Ballina shark attack, man killed off Shelly Beach
The scene of the shark attack at Lighthouse Beach, Ballina. DPI vessels used for tagging sharks off Lighthouse Beach today. Picture: Jason O'Brien. In July, Ballina bodyboarder …
Ballina shark attack: Surfer in induced coma; Government confirms shark 'eco-barriers' to be installed at Ballina's Lighthouse Beach
Sam Morgan, 20, underwent surgery and was put in an induced coma at a Gold Coast hospital after being bitten by a bull shark at Ballina on Tuesday evening.
Mr Morgan was surfing on his own at Lighthouse Beach about 6:30pm when he was bitten on the left thigh.
He made his own way out of the water before being helped by beachgoers until paramedics arrived and he was flown to hospital.
Lennox Head-Ballina surfing club criticised the State Government on what it said was slow action on shark-deterrent technology.
But Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said the latest meshing technology, which has been trialled in Western Australia, would be installed at Lighthouse Beach this summer.
"There were meetings, even as early as Monday this week, to look at the types of eco-barriers that we could put in at Lighthouse Beach," Mr Blair said.
The nylon eco-barriers run from the seabed to the water's surface, and from shoreline to shoreline, to create a protected enclosure for swimming.
While the nets separate swimmers from sharks, they do not capture sharks or other marine life as other nets can.
The State Government has been considering locations for the trial of a range of shark detection and deterrent measures under a $16 million, five-year integrated shark strategy.
The measures include increased aerial surveillance using helicopters and drones, eco-barrier nets at some beaches, smart drum lines, a shark-tagging program, and detection and deterrence devices such as sonar and 4G buoys.
In a WA trial an eco-barrier with a wide-mesh design was found to have successfully deterred sharks while having a structure that prevented other marine life getting caught in it.
The president of the local Le-Ba Boardriders Club said the time had come to take decisive action.
"I don't know what it takes, it's like a revolving door at the moment, it's just going round and round," Don Munro said.
"It's taken the Minister and the Premier, I think, quite a long time to really move on it.
"Realistically, I mean getting something done immediately; they've talked about a lot of things now that they want to implement, let's see it happen now.
"Yes, we want that to happen now, we need that to happen now."
Mr Blair said the Government was acting as quickly as it could.
"We've had the meetings to determine where we are going to put them, the manufacturers then are the ones that have to build them to be site-specific," he said.
"If this was easy we would have had them in the water."
'Something needs to be done'
Earlier, Ballina's mayor David Wright demanded the Government bring in planned extra aerial patrols, eco-shark nets and more lifeguards immediately.
