Shark fear has reduced tourist number, and while the drone program is helping keep everyone safer, the extra sightings and closures it brings are adding to the toll: Northern Beaches aquatic businesses are suffering huge financial losses with little help from authorities. Now they’re banding together to find ways to keep their heads above water.
A year of shark attacks has kept many swimmers and surfers out of the water, in particular tourists, and Northern Beaches aquatic businesses are counting the cost.
Manly Surf School has been a staple for tourists and locals for more than 30 years; it operates along several beaches up to Palm Beach. Since the string of attacks in January, owner Matt Grainger says his business has dropped by 30 per cent.
“I’m just looking at figures all the way from January, which was just a write-off, and it’s (normally) our biggest month,” Grainger said.
“I’ve got like 20 full-timers, some with me for over 20 years… I’ve got to pay for them through that winter to keep them going.” Matt shared his business barely survived this winter, having to part with some staff as well as sell a few vehicles.
Dan O’Connell from Dee Why Salty Surf School says his experience is similar. He only ran school for seven kids through their winter camp during the school holidays, compared to 40 last year.
He was previously able to support himself and a full-time staff member. Now, he’s had to pick up other jobs such as bus driver shifts. And it’s not only surf schools that are suffering. Manager of Pro Dive, Apollinaire Pantusi, says the business has taken a 25 per cent hit since the attacks.
“The attacks”, of course, refers to the high profile shark bite deaths of local surfer Mercury Psillakis and Nico Antic, as well as the miraculous shark bite survivors Andre De Ruyter and Leah Stewart in January 2026.
The drone dilemma
Unfortunately, one of the primary solutions to protect the public against shark attacks is the same mechanism that is hurting local aquatic businesses.
The state government has rolled out its $38 million drone surveillance across NSW beaches. Since 1 July 2026, the Northern Beaches has been patrolled by drones every day from dusk till dawn, which has naturally led to a spike in shark sightings.
All businesses Manly Observer spoke with are grateful for the drone program and believe the ocean is safer than ever as a result. However, more sightings mean more shark alarms, and that has the unintended impact of forcing businesses to shut down their operations repeatedly.
“We’re now getting shut down both for drone shark detections and for standard lifeguard swell closures, on top of each other… for example, on Saturday 11 July, the beach was closed, yet a surf comp for under-10s ran, dads were teaching their own kids in the shore break, and swimmers were in the water. My accredited surf school was the only one forced to stand down,” Dan explained.
It’s been a similar experience for Tamila Melo, whose business Snorkelling Shelly Beach experienced more than $7,000 in cancellations after the January shark incidents.
“My business was heavily impacted, and I tried many ways to get a waiver, a discount, anything from council and sent all my cancellations proof but I had to pay full price for my permit and had no help at all from any level of government.”
How the system works
To operate on council-run beaches, businesses must purchase a Commercial Operator Permit, which can cost thousands of dollars a month. A number of affected businesses appealed to Northern Beaches Council for leniency on these payments given the lean winter, but the request was rejected.
So instead, a collective of aquatic businesses are appealing to council to adjust the protocols to allow careful continuation of services during some closures.
The request calls for coordinated protocols. It references models similar to what occurs at Maroubra and Randwick already offer, where surf schools are permitted to run supervised lessons during swell closures if lifeguards on patrol agree a number of conditions are met.
Another suggestion was for aquatic businesses to have access to backup locations that offer safer conditions when the swell is rough, particularly areas that sit empty most winter weekends.
Curl Curl Ward Councillors Kristyn Glanville and Joeline Hackman have reviewed the suggestions and sympathise with the businesses, agreeing more flexibility in operation guidelines, alternative beach use or recalibrating licence fees should be examined.
“The beach gets closed when the lifeguards can’t supervise the lowest common denominator of swimmers at the beach. But a closely supervised class is a bit of a different situation,” Councillor Glanville said.
“Community safety comes first, but second, when tourism and activity are affected, so are the businesses that drive our economy. We do need to find flexible ways to support businesses in the areas that are impacted,” Councillor Hackman added.
In early September, Pittwater MP Jacqui Scruby set up a meeting between NSW Business Commissioner Kalina Koloff and Northern Beaches business owners to discuss the impact and solutions to the disruption.
The issue came to light when Ellis Gerry, owner of surf retail and manufacturer, Onboard Store, based in Mona Vale, reported a 20 per cent loss in revenue to the MP. Also present were Matt and Dan from their respective surf schools, as well as Beach Without Sand owner David Watson, and Mike Psillakis, Mercury’s twin and the owner of Psillakis Surfboards. All owners reported losses over the past six months.
The meeting acknowledged the new normal will be more surveillance. This era of increased safety was welcomed, with ideas suggested on how it can co-exist with business operations: criteria for what species should constitute an alarm trigger, wobbegongs or whale sharks being of least concern. They also discussed education programs about shark behaviours and movements.
Whatever the solution, Mike Psillakis not only has a business built on surfing; it is his life, one he shared with his brother Mercury before his death. He believes the water is safer than it ever was, and he will not be guided by fear, but by their shared love of the coastline.
“I guess I’m just doing what my brother would want me to do. If it was the other way around, I’d want him to go surfing every day, and enjoy the beach,” Mike said in his Brookvale workshop.
“We have great coastlines, and unfortunately, what happened to my brother and Leah, Nico and Andre, is a tragedy. But we’ve got to move forward and learn from the past and make sure we [continue to make] our beaches safer than ever, and that’s the legacy that I want to leave for my brother Mercury.”
