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Marine waters has traditionally been a significant part of Glen Butler's life.

For five decades a surfer for 50 years and, throughout those years, he notes he rarely concerned himself about ocean hunters.

"You're aware you're venturing into their territory, so you're vigilant," the 61-year-old remarked.

However his assurance on the water was broken in recent weeks.

He'd gone for a surf with his friends one weekend morning at the beach area in Sydney's northern beaches. A few minutes after he exited of the surf, fellow surfer Mercury Psillakis was tragically lost by a great white shark.

"It has disturbed us a bit," he admits. The surfer and his identical sibling his brother were well-known in the local community, he adds: "You'd always say greetings."

Australia Highest Risk Location for Shark Incidents

The country is home to numerous the planet's finest coastal areas. Above 80% of the population resides on the coast, so an dawn dip or boarding is standard for many of beachgoers each day.

But there are residents who think that regular routine is growing increasingly dangerous.

Mirek Craney is one of them.

The 66-year-old Sydney resident remembers gawking at huge great white sharks hauled in by fishing crews as a kid, in the time the currently protected animal could still be permitted to be caught.

Observing these deceased animals hung by their rear fins provoked a "gallows-like" sensation, he explains, but not fear. Ocean hunters were creatures of the marine depths, he believed, and he boarded in the shallower inlets.

However half a decade back, his offspring his daughter was bitten by a shark species while swimming on the marine park. Although she was not fatally injured, it made the father concerned about the animals – an issue that escalates with each dramatic report about an incident.

"Such incidents impact me… I'm freaked out," he confesses.

While 'The surfer was only the next victim killed by a marine incident in the metropolitan area over the past 60 years, it's small consolation to those who frequently frequent the urban shorelines.

Every wave rider interviewed in the time after the victim's fatal encounter stated they think marine predator observations closer to shore are becoming more frequent.

"Periodically we could have spotted a unidentified shape, but it could have been a marine mammal," notes the resident. "Presently, I observe them frequently."

Some fear that marine predator populations are increasing rapidly, after multiple species - including the globally most dangerous ocean hunters, great whites and tiger sharks - were awarded different levels of conservation in local marine areas.

There is minimal research on population counts to conclusively determine the situation – but specialists suggest an increase in appearances doesn't necessarily mean there are more sharks.

Marine researchers suggest that rising sea temperatures are changing the swimming and eating habits of marine predators. But experts say any growth in sightings is primarily due to growing quantities of people going into the sea, and they are enhanced by digital networks.

The likelihood of being bitten by a marine predator in Australia is still minute. Individuals are several thousand times more probable to experience water-related fatality. It is true, though, that the land is a marine incident high-risk area.

Australia places next after the US - a country with significantly more the residents - for predator encounters, and it tops the globe for fatal attacks, as per the worldwide tracking system.

The tracking system only tracks "non-induced" incidents – excluding those possibly encouraged by humans through activities such as marine harvesting – but a fuller database of all recorded marine encounters in the nation is managed by wildlife organization.

Records demonstrate that predator encounters have broadly been increasing over recent decades. Already this time there have been four fatal attacks - each unprovoked.

Meshes 'Similar to a Napkin in a Water Body'

NSW had been planning to test decreasing its deployment of predator meshes – its most established marine protection method – when the latest deadly incident happened.

Shark nets have been used in the region since the 1930s and presently are typically installed on numerous coastal areas from early spring through to late summer. In addition to the northern state, it is the exclusive area that still uses them.

It's not feasible to cordon off whole shorelines – sea states are too strong and would easily carry the meshes away.

Rather, the marine barriers are around 150m long and rest a multiple meters under the ocean surface. While secured to the ocean bottom at spots, they do not extend to the base. So ocean hunters can swim over, beneath and around them.

"It's comparable to dropping a tissue into the water body," Research center Academic a marine expert stated.

The state government says marine barriers are "not intended to form a total barrier between bathers and sharks" but rather seek to "intercept target sharks" during any {hunts