Surveillance drones bearing the name of a surfer killed in a shark attack will be deployed onto NSW beaches.<\/p>\n
Surfing NSW, the peak body for surfing, received an additional $650,000 investment from the NSW government as part of a $30m Shark Management Program over the 2025\/26 summer.<\/p>\n
As part of this, a shark surveillance program using drones and a new cohort of volunteer drone pilots has been expanded to ensure every boardrider club has a drone and trained pilots.<\/p>\n
Starting in the Northern Beaches, 60 drones will be rolled out to 60 unequipped clubs across NSW and 125 pilots will be trained by the end of winter.<\/p>\n
Each drone deployed through this expanded program will carry Mercury \u2018Merc\u2019 Psillakis\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
Mr Psillakis was a much-loved Northern Beaches surfer who died from a shark attack in September last year.<\/p>\n
Surfing NSW CEO Lucas Townsend said the surfing community came together after Mr Psillakis\u2019 death with the shared intention of making the beaches safer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 120 boardrider clubs along the NSW coast with more than 11,500 active members of all ages, 50 per cent of those members are aged under 18, and those youth numbers continue to grow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis aerial surveillance program is for the competitive surfers and nearby beachgoers.\u201d<\/p>\n
The drones will provide an additional layer of safety for surfers and beachgoers, particularly outside of patrolled hours and locations, while supporting boardrider clubs during events and training sessions.<\/p>\n
The drones will operate year-round with trained pilots able to identify high-risk species and monitor activities in real time.<\/p>\n
Any shark sightings will be uploaded to the SharkSmart app to allow beachgoers to make an informed decision before entering the water.<\/p>\n
Agriculture minister Tara Moriarty said beach safety for swimmers and surfers is \u201ca top priority\u201d for the government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis comprehensive drones and training program for Surfing NSW ensures every club has a drone and trained pilots, which is a significant contribution to honouring his (Mr Psillakis) legacy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis will materially lift community-led coastal surveillance during the White Shark season of winter and spring and heading into next summer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Psillakis family said they are grateful to see this \u201cimportant step forward\u201d in ocean safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe release of these drones in Mercury\u2019s name is deeply meaningful to us and our family. It is an honour that recognises not only his life, but the love we continue to carry for him every day,\u201d they said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Surveillance drones bearing the name of a surfer killed in a shark attack will be deployed onto NSW…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5154,22,21,4508,5158,5155,5162,4509,5169,379,5165,4968,5163,5157,5161,5168,5153,5166,4492,5156,5167,5160,5164,5159],"class_list":{"0":"post-3913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-aerial-surveillance-program","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-austrlia","11":"tag-beach-safety","12":"tag-boardrider-club","13":"tag-boardrider-clubs","14":"tag-drone-pilots","15":"tag-lucas-townsend","16":"tag-monitor-activities","17":"tag-newswire-news","18":"tag-ocean-safety","19":"tag-shark-attack","20":"tag-shark-attack-victim","21":"tag-shark-sightings","22":"tag-shark-surveillance","23":"tag-shark-surveillance-drones","24":"tag-shark-surveillance-program","25":"tag-shark-victim","26":"tag-surfing-community","27":"tag-surveillance-drones","28":"tag-surveillance-program","29":"tag-trained-pilots","30":"tag-trained-pilots-able","31":"tag-youth-numbers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}