The Shark Drum Lines Are Coming!

The tough talk following the recent attack on talented Ballina surfer Sam Morgan has turned to action with the NSW state government set to install “hi-tech” drum lines along the North Coast of NSW – a region that includes Ballina, Lennox Head, Byron Bay and the Tweed. The first drum line, off the coast of Ballina, is expected to be put in place as early as next week. The government will also fund helicopter surveillance between Byron Bay and Evans Head twice a day between December 1 and January 26. Aerial spotting will continue between Newcastle and Wollongong, and will be extended to include the south coast, reads the Daily Telegraph. Whether the drum lines will address the perfect storm of shark conditions along the North Coast remains to be seen. In Queensland, where drum lines have been used since 1962, fatality rates fell from 0.05 to 0.02 fatalities per year pre- and post-installation of the drum lines – a decline of 70 percent. This suggests that the fatality rate fell more rapidly in areas with drum lines than those without.