TLDR
Surf Life Saving NSW drones detected 1,225 sharks across 96 ocean beaches in July and August 2026, triggering 360 safety interventions. The expanded program ran 49,000 flights and covered 343,000 km of coastline after a $34 million winter investment.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Surf Life Saving NSW drones detected 1,225 sharks across 96 ocean beaches in July and August 2026. This triggered 360 safety interventions. These included beach alarms, jet-ski responses and full evacuations at Bondi, Manly, Dee Why and Cronulla.[1]
The two-month program logged 49,000 flights and 16,150 hours of aerial surveillance across 343,000 km of NSW coastline. July alone accounted for more than 25,000 flights and 165,000 km of coverage.[1]
Drones operated at each beach from 6:45 am to 4:15 pm daily across the period.[1] Notable sightings included a great white at South Narrabeen and a bull shark at Urunga. Seven sharks were also detected simultaneously off Lennox Head.
The Minns Labor Government invested an additional $34 million to expand drone surveillance across NSW beaches over winter from 1 July 2026. This was fast-tracked after a teacher was severely mauled by a great white at Coogee Beach in June.[2]
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce said the scale of the operation had shifted dramatically in a matter of weeks. He described the program as a massive undertaking. This was due to the rapid expansion and the significant results that emerged from the first month.[1]
Surf Life Saving NSW said the higher detection numbers reflect the reach of surveillance, not a rise in shark populations. The program feeds real-time warnings to volunteer surf lifesavers, lifeguards and the SharkSmart app.[3]
From 1 September 2026, a record 73 drones patrol 97 beaches with more than 300,000 scheduled surveillance hours planned. They are joined by 305 SMART drumlines and two new tagged-shark listening stations in Sydney Harbour.[2] Those harbour stations join 37 existing receivers. These track 1,698 white sharks, 938 tiger sharks and 374 bull sharks across NSW waters.[2]
Premier Chris Minns said the government was backing practical technology to keep families, surfers and swimmers safer across the coast.[4] The 73-drone summer fleet began operations on 1 September 2026.
SOURCES & CITATIONS
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How many sharks did NSW drones detect in July and August 2026?
Why did NSW expand its drone shark surveillance program?
Does the high number of sightings mean there are more sharks near NSW beaches?
Caleb Reed covers breaking news and sport. He works to the rhythm of a story as it unfolds, and he is happiest when the facts arrive faster than anyone can spin them.
