Collaroy Beach is one of 19 Sydney locations to be added to a statewide shark drone surveillance network, following a $4.2 million safety package announced in January 2026 in the wake of four shark attacks across NSW in 48 hours.
Read: Swift Rescue Saves Injured Surfer At Popular Long Reef Break
Surf Life Saving NSW drone operations at Collaroy began on 24 January and are scheduled to run seven days a week through to the end of the April school holidays. The expansion adds 30 beaches in total to the network — 19 in Sydney and 11 in regional NSW — with Collaroy joined on the Northern Beaches by Freshwater, North Narrabeen, Mona Vale and Avalon.
The package was triggered by a rapid sequence of attacks between Sunday 18 and Tuesday 20 January. At Nielsen Park in Vaucluse on 18 January, a 12-year-old boy was attacked by a suspected bull shark after jumping from a rock ledge into Sydney Harbour and later died in hospital.
The following morning at Dee Why Point, a boy escaped unharmed after a shark bit through his surfboard. Later that Monday evening, a surfer in his 20s suffered severe leg injuries at North Steyne Beach in Manly that required amputation; he was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.
A fourth attack occurred on Tuesday 20 January at Point Plomer near Port Macquarie, where a 39-year-old surfer was knocked from his board by a suspected bull shark and sustained minor lacerations before being discharged. NSW Police noted that more than 120mm of rain had fallen on Sydney on 18 January in the lead-up to the attacks.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce said the expanded drone network marks a significant step up in aerial shark detection capacity.
“This new package represents a 90% increase on our current shark surveillance drone program — a significant enhancement that will see more drones flying at popular beaches along our coast, representing an additional 35,000 flying hours from 24 January to 26 April,” Pearce said.
“We know our SLS drones are an effective eye in the sky when it comes to early shark detection and warning beach users. So far in 2025/26, 50 Surf Life Saving NSW drones from Tweed to Bega have completed 29,431 flights over 8,044 flying hours. During that time 461 sharks were sighted.”
Beyond drones, the package funds targeted research into bull shark movements in Sydney Harbour and surrounding estuaries, with scientists from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development tasked with tracking residency patterns and identifying higher-risk periods — particularly following storms and heavy rainfall. New listening stations will also be installed in the harbour to speed up detection of tagged sharks and alert users to their presence.
The SharkSmart community education campaign will be upgraded as part of the rollout, incorporating new beach signage, a mobile education van and increased social media alerts.
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 priority was deploying a range of tools to keep the public informed.
Read: Collaroy Seawall Sparks Fears Over Beach Loss and Surf Impact
The measures add to NSW’s existing Shark Management Program, which encompasses 305 SMART drumlines, shark nets at 51 beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong, and 37 listening stations along the coast. A $2.5 million funding boost in December had already brought drone patrols forward earlier in the season, extended coverage into weekends and placed 150 shark bite kits in regional communities.
Published 21-February-2026
