Travel for Pennies

For many years during the 19 century, people were forbidden to swim in public, partly due to the idea that it was considered as not proper behavior, and partly due the fact that the waters were not safe due to the threat of shark attacks.  The question still remains as this is one of the most popular beaches on the coast, the home of many festivals and sporting activities, including surfing, luxury hotels, charming beach cottages, and top restaurants.  Sydney tourism is booming in this beach town and many may wonder, is it safe or not safe to go into the waters.

Well, the last time someone was killed by a shark attack in Bondi Beach was in 1937.  There are still several sightings each year.  When that happens, the lifeguards warn the swimmers and the surfers to stay out of the water.  For many decades, the city has made use of shark nets, which seems to be the only way to keep the sharks from coming so close to the shore.  These nets are used throughout the regions of Queensland and New South Wales.

The nets are made of a wire mesh, and then weighted to keep them in place.  Two buoys are what keeps them suspended at the water level, and then they are weighted at the bottom to hold them tightly against the ocean floor.  They are usually about two hundred meters in length and about two hundred meters off of the the shoreline.  The spaces between the mesh wires is large enough for smaller, less threatening sea life to pass through, but they will entangle a small shark, and not allow the passage of the larger sharks.

However, the nets are just a deterrent, and not a total barrier.  There are spaces between the individual nets that do allow the sharks to pass through and come closer to the beach.  This is why there are still quite a few sightings, but as stated, attacks on humans is rare, and it has been a long time since someone died in the waters at the mouth of a shark.

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