Coogee Locals Shun Water After Shark Attack
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- Leah Stewart, a Coogee resident, teacher and mother, was pulled from between the flags on Saturday morning with life-threatening injuries from a great white shark attack and has since undergone multiple surgeries including an arm amputation.
- Veteran local surfer Alex 'Spango', who has surfed the area's Bommies for 35-plus years, waded only to his knees on Monday and told the beach the community is "100% saddened, stunned, surprised and just … haunted," now wearing an electromagnetic "shark band" for peace of mind.
- Marine biology student Samuel Mackenzie, whose friend witnessed the attack, chose the enclosed Ross Jones memorial pool over the open ocean and argued against shark nets, saying "the proper measures are to have more education to protect and save our wildlife."
- The Civil Aviation Safety Authority lifted a blanket drone flight ban at Coogee — long enforced because of Sydney airport flight paths — allowing Surf Life Saving NSW to run aerial shark patrols from Sunday, with operators reporting an "all clear" by midday Monday.
- Randwick mayor Dylan Parker is pushing for a permanent, year-round SLSNSW drone exemption for Coogee, arguing that "illegally operating drones" fly there daily and surveillance flights should be allowed to "keep the community safe."
- Local MP Matt Thistlethwaite announced a community counselling meeting at the Coogee Surf Life Saving club on Monday evening to provide mental health support to residents, witnesses, families and children affected by the incident.
Why it matters: A single shark attack at one of Sydney's most popular urban beaches has triggered a rare CASA regulatory shift, opening the door to year-round drone surveillance at Coogee — something the Randwick mayor says is long overdue given that unauthorised drones already operate there daily. For thousands of regular ocean swimmers, the incident has already changed behaviour, with a jetski shadowing even a lone Monday afternoon swimmer as the new normal until further notice.
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