Coogee Beach is welcoming swimmers back but with lifeguards on high alert and drones sweeping the water after a weekend shark attack that critically injured a woman and triggered a renewed safety focus along Australia’s busy coastline.
The victim, a 35-year-old woman, was swimming about 30 metres from the shore on Saturday morning when a 3-4m shark bit her, leaving her with serious injuries to her arms and lower left leg.
She remains in hospital in stable condition.
Coogee, just south of the famed Bondi Beach, is home to one of Australia’s largest Irish communities.
Even with the beach now reopened, the incident has shaken confidence among some locals, including Irish man Ryan Brady, who said he is not ready to return to the surf.
“I’m very wary. I wouldn’t even dip my toe in at the minute,” he said.
“I used to do a few lengths across the beach but I’d always have in the back of your mind ‘Is there sharks around?
“But after the weekend, no, it’s kind of a nail in the coffin for me, I won’t be getting back in for a while anyway.”
