Story by Hamish Broome •
BYRON Bay “shark girl” Madison Stewart says it’s a myth that nets on the Gold Coast have stopped shark attacks, saying there had been 30 bites there since the late 1960s.
“The only reason people haven’t heard of them is because they haven’t turned into fatalities, and that’s because every single beach that is shark netted on the Gold Coast has an on-duty lifeguard at all times monitoring people.
“So the paramedic response is a lot quicker, people don’t die from blood loss.”
“It’s not necessarily because the nets are there… it’s because the lifeguards are there.”
Madison also canned Premier Mike Baird’s decision to trial nets on the North Coast, arguing that they will achieve nothing.
“I disagree with his decision, (but) it’s not necessarily because of the marine life deaths that are going to occur,” Ms Stewart said.
“They are not going to stop the attacks, they are not going to stop the type of sharks that are hurting people, and they are not the answer.
“Nets don’t stop great whites.”