North Narrabeen is among 19 Sydney beaches to receive daily drone patrols under a $4.2 million NSW shark safety package, announced in late January 2026 following four shark attacks in 48 hours across the state.
Read: North Narrabeen Rescue: Man Pulled from Waves After Being Washed Off Rocks
Surf Life Saving NSW began flying drones over the newly added beaches from 24 January, with patrols scheduled to continue daily through to the April school holidays.
The funding announcement followed a series of attacks between Sunday 18 and Tuesday 20 January. The first and most serious occurred at Nielsen Park in Vaucluse on 18 January, when a 12-year-old boy was attacked by a suspected bull shark after jumping from a rock ledge into Sydney Harbour. He later died in hospital.
The following morning, an 11-year-old boy at Dee Why Point escaped injury when a shark took a large chunk from his surfboard. That same Monday evening, 27-year-old musician Andre de Ruyter was attacked by a shark while surfing at North Steyne Beach in Manly, sustaining severe leg injuries that resulted in amputation. He was transported to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.
On Tuesday 20 January, a 39-year-old surfer at Point Plomer near Port Macquarie was knocked from his board and bitten through his wetsuit by a suspected bull shark, sustaining minor lacerations before being discharged from hospital.
NSW Police noted the attacks followed more than 120mm of rainfall in Sydney on 18 January. Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce said the fourth attack, at Point Plomer, occurred near a river mouth, which is an area well known for shark activity, and that the water quality across the Northern Beaches remained too poor for safe swimming or surfing.
As part of the $4.2 million package, scientists will tag and track bull sharks in Sydney Harbour and surrounding estuaries to identify high-risk periods, with a focus on conditions following storms and heavy rain. New underwater listening stations will also be installed in the harbour to speed up alerts when tagged sharks are detected nearby.
North Narrabeen joins Avalon, Mona Vale, Collaroy and Freshwater among the 19 Sydney beaches newly added to the drone program, with 11 regional locations — including Crowdy Head, Killcare and Windang — also coming online. Pearce said the expansion represents a 90 per cent increase in the statewide drone surveillance program, adding approximately 35,000 flying hours across the season. He said the drones provide early warnings that assist in keeping beachgoers safe.
The SharkSmart public education campaign will also be upgraded, with new beach signage, a mobile education van and increased social media alerts forming part of the rollout.
NSW Minister for Agriculture, Regional and Western NSW, Tara Moriarty, said there was no single solution to shark safety and that no authority could guarantee completely safe conditions in the ocean. She said the focus was on deploying a range of tools to keep the public informed.
Read: Marine Life on Display at North Narrabeen’s Coastal Environment Centre
The new measures sit alongside NSW’s existing Shark Management Program, which includes 305 SMART drumlines, shark nets at 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong, and 37 listening stations along the coast. A separate $2.5 million funding boost in December had already extended drone operations earlier in the season, added weekend patrols and distributed 150 shark bite kits to regional communities.
Featured image credit: Facebook/Surf Life Saving NSW
Published 20-February-2026
