How do the shark nets work?
Shark nets are used on open ocean beaches in Qld and NSW. They are simply a straight, rectangular piece of net suspended in the water between buoys. They are anchored at either end, usually about 200 metres from shore, in about 10 metres of water. Most shark nets stretch about 200 metres along the beach and down to a depth of 6 metres. Floats at the top and sinkers at the bottom keep the net upright in the water. The mesh holes are 50cm wide; small enough to entangle sharks, and other large marine species, but big enough to leave smaller fish alone. The nets, however, are not intended to form a complete barrier, and sharks can still get through. The nets act as a deterrent by interrupting the territorial swimming patterns of sharks. In a typical 20km stretch of coastal surf beach, a strip of net will be set up every couple of kilometres along the beach.
