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Swimmers flee the water after a school of 15 hammerhead sharks were seen sailing between the flags off the popular Sydney beach where Home and Away is filmed.
- A group of 15 hammerhead sharks were seen swimming on a Sydney beach.
- The sharks were sighted by a drone off the coast of Palm Beach.
- Palm Beach is known as the filming location for the Australian television show Home and Away
- The sighting has reignited debate over the effectiveness of Sydney’s shark nets.
One of Sydney’s most iconic beaches has been evacuated after a group of 15 hammerhead sharks were seen swimming in the “safe zone.”
Lifeguards sounded the shark alarm in Palm Beach, the filming location for the Australian television classic Home and Away, around 1pm Tuesday after drones spotted the predators from above.
The beach was quickly closed off and swimmers were urged to leave the water while lifeguards patrolled on jet skis to make sure no one was hurt.
It is understood that up to 15 sharks were seen.
Palm Beach (above) was closed Tuesday after a group of 15 hammerhead sharks were seen in the water.
Palm Beach (above) is one of Sydney’s best-known beaches and is the filming location for the popular Australian television show Home and Away.
Hammerheads can be easily identified by drones due to their unique shape.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society states that there has never been a fatal hammerhead shark attack in Australian waters.
Flags indicating safe swimming areas were removed from Palm Beach for about an hour after the sighting to prevent more people from entering the waves.
The beach was reopened once the sharks withdrew from the area.
Palm Beach has been home to several shark sightings with one shark seen just a week ago.
There are three species of hammerhead sharks found in New South Wales: the scalloped hammerhead, the smooth hammerhead, and the great hammerhead; however, hammerheads are generally considered non-aggressive.
Hammerhead sharks (above) are easily identified by their unique shape and are generally known to be non-aggressive.
Tuesday’s incident has reignited debate over whether the nets are keeping enough sharks off Sydney’s beaches to justify the harm they cause to other species.
The Northern Beach Council voted to remove shark nets from its shores in April 2021 after hearing of several other species becoming entangled in them.
However, her vote was quickly passed over after the NSW Department of Primary Industries tripled its funding for a shark management program in September 2021, allocating more than $21 million.
“The New South Wales government will now operate the world’s largest shark management program with the aim of striking the right balance between keeping swimmers and surfers safe and protecting our marine life,” the minister for Agriculture of New South Wales, Adam Marshall.
“We will also continue to deploy shark nets as part of the Shark Meshing Program in the Greater Sydney region as we measure the success of scaled-up technology solutions.”