Sydney’s beaches enter the drone age to get swimmers back in the water after spate of shark attacks
News Source
•Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:00:07 GMT
📰 What Happened
Seventy beaches across New South Wales are now watched by drones. The $34m dawn-to-dusk monitoring program flies every day from first light to dark. One expert calls it 'the best technology we have at the moment'.
A 22-year-old drone operator, Taha Kafil-Hussain, flies patrols over Coogee beach. Early morning swimmers stop to ask him about the water before heading down the steps. When locals ask about visibility, he tells them the conditions and what he can see in the water. The whole point is to get swimmers back into the sea after a run of shark attacks.
🔍 The Backstory
Drone flying at Coogee was not always allowed. The beach sits directly under the flight path from Sydney airport's east-west runway, so drones were banned there. That changed after June, when a four-metre white shark attacked Leah Stewart, a 34-year-old teacher and mum.
Stewart described the attack as 'like fighting a dinosaur'. Her left arm was amputated. The attack was one of a series of high-profile shark incidents in Sydney in the past 12 months. The drone program is part of the state's push to make beaches feel safe again.
🎯 Why It Matters
Drones give swimmers a live warning if a shark is near. That means people can enjoy the beach with less fear, and families and tourists are more likely to keep coming back to Sydney's shores.
Seventy beaches across New South Wales are now watched by drones. The $34m dawn-to-dusk monitoring program flies every day from first light to dark. One expert calls it 'the best technology we have at the moment'.
A 22-year-old drone operator, Taha Kafil-Hussain, flies patrols over Coogee beach. Early morning swimmers stop to ask him about the water before heading down the steps. When locals ask about visibility, he tells them the conditions and what he can see in the water. The whole point is to get swimmers back into the sea after a run of shark attacks.
Drone flying at Coogee was not always allowed. The beach sits directly under the flight path from Sydney airport's east-west runway, so drones were banned there. That changed after June, when a four-metre white shark attacked Leah Stewart, a 34-year-old teacher and mum.
Stewart described the attack as 'like fighting a dinosaur'. Her left arm was amputated. The attack was one of a series of high-profile shark incidents in Sydney in the past 12 months. The drone program is part of the state's push to make beaches feel safe again.
Drones give swimmers a live warning if a shark is near. That means people can enjoy the beach with less fear, and families and tourists are more likely to keep coming back to Sydney's shores.