Two hammerhead sharks have evaded netting designed to keep them away from swimmers and surfers at a beach.
The huge sharks were spotted swimming over the netting, put in place especially to keep sharks out of waters populated by beachgoers and surfers, by the DroneShark app at the world famous Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
A spokesperson for the group said: “Hammerhead sharks inside the shark nets at Bondi Beach”.
Adding: “Great to see they diverted the nets safely.”
One of the two hammerhead sharks caught sneaking into the off-limits area was identified by the group as Homer - a regular visitor to Sydney’s coast. His companion was unknown and there’s speculation that it could be Homer’s “girlfriend”.
At the time of their discovery, there was no one swimming in the ocean as they swam over the nets at sunrise.
However, the incident has sparked debate about how safe the shark netting really is - for both humans and sea creatures alike - and whether it is doing its job to keep the people of Bondi Beach safe.
The nets are set about four metres below the sea surface meaning some sharks are able to swim over them and they do not cover the whole area of the beach.
A spokesperson from DroneShark said: "The nets are quite ineffective as they do not stretch across the whole beach.
"There’s a huge push to get rid of the nets in the area as it just kills a lot of bycatch and the sharks can just go around or even underneath them. They are so outdated, [have] been here since 1937."
Adding to concern that the shark nets are not only ineffective but also risk damage to Marine wildlife, the wildlife group Nets Out Now argued the nets are simply a “false sense of security” and “negatively impact the marine Ecosystem”.
The group explained: “Lethal programs designed to kill target sharks are ineffective at improving beach safety and do not have the social licence to continue, especially those that kill large amounts of bycatch of non-target species such as dolphins, whales and turtles.”
However, the New South Wales government has said they plan to continue using shark nets despite the opposition, arguing they at least provide some protection.
They said: “While the nets cannot provide a guarantee that a shark interaction will never happen, we believe they have been effective in greatly reducing the potential number of interactions.”
In the video’s comments section where the video was posted by the environment group, one person said: “Outdated, ineffective, harmful system.”
One commenter said: “I am still at a loss to understand why councils don’t have drones patrolling the waters, instead of nets.”
“The nets need to come out! Yay Homer and buddy,” said another.
