Surfers and swimmers at Manly Beach were ordered to return to shore earlier today after a tagged great white shark was detected off the coast of the Sydney beach.
The great white shark was detected just days after 57-year-old surfer Mercury ‘Merc’ Psillakis was killed by a shark at the nearby Dee Why beach.
Per The Daily Telegraph, Manly lifeguards sounded the shark alarm this morning after a shark tag sensor went off at around 11am.
An announcement over a loudspeaker shortly followed, urging “everyone out of the water” as “there has been a shark sighting earlier”.
Manly was soon closed as signs alerting beachgoers to the sighting were erected, with lifeguards reportedly collecting at least one swimmer from the water via a jet ski.
The Northern Beaches Council confirmed the closure of Manly Beach on its website, citing a “notification by NSW government Shark Smart app that a tagged shark is in the vicinity”.
Meanwhile, the Department of Primary Industries [DPI] confirmed that a shark of an unspecified length, first tagged and released in 2023, was picked up by the North Steyne receiver at Manly.
Swimmers and surfers were given the all-clear to return to the water at around midday.
It’s not yet known whether the shark is the same one that killed Psillakis, with the DPI still working to determine the species of that shark before delivering its report on the events of Saturday’s fatal attack.
Manly is just a few kilometres down the coast from Dee Why, which, along with neighbouring Long Reef beach, has remained closed after Psillakis’ death.
Police said Psillakis — a husband, father and experienced surfer — was bitten by what they believe to be a great white at around 10am on Saturday while surfing 100 metres offshore between Dee Why and Long Reef.
Psillakis lost both his legs, and was returned to shore by fellow surfers where he was pronounced dead at the scene.
In the wake of the tragedy, NSW Premier Chris Minns paused a trial that would have seen shark nets removed from three Greater Sydney beaches.
Dee Why was one of 50 beaches between Wollongong and Newcastle to have a net installed last Monday, the first day of spring.
But Minns said he would not continue the net-removal trial — planned for as-yet undetermined beaches in the councils of the Northern Beaches, Waverley and Central Coast — until the DPI delivered its report on the fatal Dee Why attack.
“We need to understand what happened and how it happened,” Minns said.
“I need to understand whether the shark got inside the nets or how the system’s operating, before we make big moves,” he added.
Meanwhile, Inspector Stuart Thomson spoke of the tragedy during a press conference held hours after the attack.
“It’s a terrible, terrible thing. It’s one of those freak accidents that happens very, very rarely,” Thomson said.
“With tomorrow being Father’s Day, it’s particularly tragic,” he added.
The last shark fatality in Sydney was in 2022, when diver Simon Nellist was attacked by a great white in waters off the rocks of Little Bay.
Lead images: Getty Images and Instagram
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