A recent cluster of shark attacks along Australia’s east coast – including a fatal attack on a 12-year-old boy in Sydney – has renewed attention on how people share the ocean with sharks, particularly in a country that sees more than 500 million coastal visits by beachgoers each year.
While the overall risk of a shark attack remains low, experts say warmer waters, various weather events, shifting prey and busier coastlines can increase the likelihood of shark encounters – making when, where and how people enter the water as important as ever.
Which shark is most commonly involved in attacks on humans in Australia – and where?
Shark attacks have occurred most frequently in the state of New South Wales, largely due to the high number of beachgoers – particularly surfers – along its coastline.
A range of shark species inhabit the coastline around Sydney including great whites and tiger sharks. But bull sharks – known for their ability to tolerate freshwater, as well as their adaptability to near-shore waters and river mouths – are among the most commonly implicated in attacks in the region.
Bull shark encounters tend to occur when conditions favour feeding activity including warmer water temperatures, murky seas after heavy rainfall and periods of low visibility such as dawn and dusk.
Other shark species commonly involved in attacks across Australia include tiger sharks, which – like bull sharks – prefer tropical waters, and great white sharks, which favour cooler, more temperate waters.
Other states that have reported shark attacks over the years include Queensland, especially around areas such as the Whitsunday Islands, where proximity to tropical waters increases shark activity.
Western Australia, known for its rich marine biodiversity, has also recorded shark activity over time, including fatal attacks in the state’s south, around Esperance in 2025 and 2020, in Perth in 2023 and 2021, and recent interactions at Margaret River and further north near Exmouth in 2025.
Are there specific conditions when shark encounters are more likely?
Speaking to the Guardian, Jodie Rummer, a marine biology professor at James Cook University, said; “Shark behaviour is driven by food availability, temperature and environmental conditions … Sharks respond quickly to these ecological cues because they are following prey, not people.”
Rummer added: “Warmer water increases a shark’s metabolic demand, meaning they need to spend more time actively foraging. As climate change warms coastal waters and increases the frequency and intensity of storms, the environmental backdrop is shifting. This does not change the nature of sharks, but it can influence when and where encounters are more likely.”
In which months are sharks most active in Australia?
Sharks have been known to follow whale migrations along Australia’s east coast, which generally take place between April to October or November.
Bull sharks, which prefer temperatures above 20C, are most active across Australia’s southern coastlines during warmer months, particularly from January to February.
Meanwhile, great whites favour slightly cooler waters, mostly ranging from 20C or below. As a result, these sharks are often most active during late winter and spring across NSW with peaks in activity from August to November.
In WA, great white sharks are typically most active between September and December, as warmer waters and increased prey availability draw them closer to shore.
In Queensland, highest levels of shark activity are usually reported around the summer months of December to February, largely due to the warmer waters.
Is it riskier to swim at dawn, dusk and at night?
Yes. Experts warn that swimming in low light conditions including before dawn, after dusk and at night carries added risk, due to lower visibility for both people and sharks.
Speaking of bull sharks, Christopher Pepin-Neff, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney who studies shark encounters and policy responses said: “They can’t really see what they are biting into in those periods so people get bitten more often when we bump into them.”
How do weather events such as heavy rains or floods affect shark activity?
Pepin-Neff noted that bull sharks often hide ahead of intense weather events, which can increase the likelihood of shark-human encounters in rivers and estuaries.
“If you live on a river and a storm is coming in three days, they would have gone up that river three days ago so the river would have been more dangerous three days before the storm … Animals are hiding because the storm is coming and they may be agitated, they may be stressed,” they said.
Murky waters after heavy rainfall or cyclones can also further raise the risk of encounters, with Pepin-Neff describing the “quarter of inch or rain on top of saltwater” as a “little biodiversity explosion.”
“They’re looking for the baitfish that follow those biodiversity explosions,” they said, with Rummer adding that since bull sharks can tolerate brackish and freshwater for “extended periods … they frequently move through estuaries and river systems, especially after heavy rain when food availability can increase.”
Do activities like surfing or wearing certain colours increase risk?
“Often around those times where there’s a flooding incident, there’s also a great surf so surfers tend to just want to go out,” said Rebecca Olive, a marine research fellow at RMIT University in Melbourne.
“Surfers are really interested in waves rather than water quality,” said Olive, who urged surfers, swimmers and other beachgoers to assess water conditions first, undertake first aid training and keep a first aid kit in their car.
Beachgoers are also advised to avoid high-contrast colours, as some sharks, including bull sharks, are more sensitive to contrast than colour.
“We don’t wear yellow,” said Pepin-Neff, referring to the colour as “yum yum yellow,” a term used by divers and experts. “Underwater, [yellow] looks like opportunistic flesh,” they said, adding: “I’d rather have black and be mistaken for a seal than wear yellow and be mistaken for a flesh pop.”
What is the safest place to swim at the beach in Australia?
Swimmers should stay between the red and yellow safety flags on the beaches, Robert Harcourt, a marine ecology professor at Sydney’s Macquarie University, advised. He said: “[Beach patrollers] also use drones to look for sharks on patrolled beaches and they focus on the red and yellow flags to make sure people can be pulled out … The lifeguards are also looking for sharks, as well as making sure people don’t drown.”
Harcourt also advised surfers to surf in groups, saying: “If there’s 50 of you, one is much more likely to see a shark coming … as well as the confusion effect – there’s a lot of things kicking around, actually, it’s more intimidating for sharks.”
At the same time, Olive urged for greater ocean awareness, acknowledging both the concerns people have towards sharks as well as the importance of understanding marine environments.
“I think if you are using a place regularly, it’s good to learn something about it. You could do that by asking the people you swim or surf with … go see your local dive centre, ask when you’re buying fish at the fish shop, you can talk to the fishers about what’s going on in the bays,” she said.
