Popular Sydney beach deploys drones, helicopter after fatal shark attack

7/9/2025 12:30

Australian authorities on Sunday deployed drones and a helicopter to monitor the waters around a popular Sydney beach after a surfer was killed by a great white shark on Saturday, officials said.



Two beaches in Australia's most populous city remained closed on Sunday after the attack on Saturday morning that took place about 100 m from shore while the man was surfing with friends at Long Reef Beach, in the north of the New South Wales state capital.



The experienced surfer was pulled from the water by other surfers, but had lost too much blood and died at the scene, police said. It was the first shark-attack death in Sydney since a swimmer was killed off a beach in February 2022, which the city's first since 1963.



On Sunday, the state's main water rescue organisation, Surf Life Saving NSW, deployed drones and a helicopter to surveil the area for the shark, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said.



More so-called SMART drumlines, which use satellite technology to notify authorities when a shark is hooked on a baited line, had also been installed, it said in a statement.