A cluster of shark attacks at the start of the year put many people off ocean swimming, but lifesavers have issued a warning that swimmers need to be more mindful of basic water safety.

Surf Life Saving not only involves shark safety. Over the Summer of 2025-26, SLS members performed 3,989 rescues and administered 17,221 first aid treatments. Although the impact of SLS is difficult to quantify, an estimated $4.19 billion is added to communities across Australia through the actions of SLS members.  

Coastal drowning deaths have reduced by 14 per cent this year, but it remains crucial for surf lifesavers and beachgoers to understand the main risks present at beaches across Australia. 

Rip currents are the leading risk for beachgoers, with an average of 26 people dying from rip currents each year. Over the Summer of 2024-2025 alone, there were 15 deaths related to rip currents in Australia, 60 per cent of which occurred during holiday periods such as Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day, and ‘Australia Day’ long weekend. 

“Rip currents are the biggest bane of a surf lifesaver’s existence, because everyone, when they go to the beach, is looking for somewhere calm,” said Bec Crawford, vice president of Manly Surf Lifesaving Club.   

“They don’t necessarily want waves. And of course, rip currents are synonymous with calm water. It’s deeper water, it’s traveling outward. And it looks serene and inviting, so people just walk straight into them because they can’t see them.”  

Education about rip currents is a key mitigation strategy, according to Crawford. 

“As soon as people can learn that education, everything changes,” she said. “At Manly in particular, one of the ways that we stop that from happening is in prevention.

“We’ll station people around where the rip currents are, have conversations with people before they go in the water, and direct them, of course, to the flags.” 

Besides rips, marine animals are a key risk for beachgoers, but not in the way that might be anticipated. Although there is a heightened fear of shark attacks in the summer, stingers are a more prevalent risk for beachgoers. While more pervasive in Queensland and the Northern Territory where waters are warmer, species such as bluebottles are common.  

“Being stung for the first time can be very difficult for people to take, especially if there’s a language barrier, trying to get them to understand it’ll be okay after 40 minutes,” said Crawford. 

As for shark safety, she added: “We have to remember that it’s their home and we have to be respectful of their home. Think about it exactly like that: that we’re only visitors, that’s where they live.” 

We have shark apps that tell us when one’s been sighted, and as soon as it’s been sighted, the beach is closed. It’s like 45 minutes at least, ‘everyone out of the water’.

Despite four shark attacks in January, such incidents remain relatively uncommon say Surf Life Savers.  

Crawford, said, prior to a fatal attack in September there had not been a fatality in 90 years.

“That speaks volumes for the amount of people that actually frequent the beaches, that swim all hours of the day,” she added. “That’s pretty good stats.

“[Shark safety] plays a big part in SLS because there is fear.”

New technology is shaping the way SLS members mitigate the risk of shark attacks, as well as bringing peace of mind to beachgoers.  

“As technology changes, we move with that technology,” said Crawford.   

“We use drones. We had IRBs (inflatable rescue boats) in the water just to settle everyone’s peace of mind, and to ensure that the parents can see that we’re actively doing something helpful to disturb the patterns of the sharks.  

“Because they’ve got neurotransmitters in their nose, and they can actually read vibrations, if vibrations from IRBs disturb [the shark] and they don’t like it, they swim away.”   

For surfers, technology such as shark apps can be a helpful tool to ease their mind and assess the risk of encountering sharks during their surf.  

“Since the attacks, I’ve downloaded the Shark Smart app to take some of that worry away. Although, there’s more sharks out there than I thought there were, so it helps me avoid them, but also makes me more aware that they’re there,” says Josh, a Manly local and regular surfer.   

Not only do surfers benefit from this, but SLS members rely on the tagging of sharks to keep tabs on their movements and make decisions on managing the beach.  

“We have shark apps that tell us when one’s been sighted, and as soon as it’s been sighted, the beach is closed. It’s like 45 minutes at least, ‘everyone out of the water, there’s been a shark sighting’,” says Crawford.  

“It seems as though there’s more sharks, but there’s not… there’s just more tagged sharks.”  

 Main image by Megan Spiller.