NSW Expands Drone Patrols for Shark Detection

The New South Wales government will invest an additional A$34 million in shark-surveillance measures, expanding drone patrols to about 70 beaches with year-round coverage and trialling two AI detection systems over summer, aiming for autonomous drone operations. The total shark-protection spending over two years reaches A$120 million.

Editorial analysis: Field deployments of AI-capable drones are an important test for real-time computer-vision pipelines, edge compute, and labelled marine datasets that practitioners will need to operationalise at scale. SMH reports the NSW government will invest an extra A$34 million in shark-surveillance measures, bringing total shark-protection spending to A$120 million over two years SMH . SBS reports the expansion will place drone patrols at 72 beaches with year-round coverage, and SMH and WAToday describe the coverage as about 70 beaches with drones operating dawn-to-dusk in winter and extended hours in summer. SMH reports two AI detection systems will be trialled over summer, and SMH describes a long-term aim for autonomous drones to operate daily on NSW beaches. SBS quotes Premier Chris Minns: "No one can promise a shark mitigation program that can guarantee that there will be zero encounters with sharks."