'I think we have to': Shark cull back on the table after Coogee tragedy

The mum who was mauled by a shark while swimming between the flags at Coogee Beach in Sydney remains in a critical but stable condition, as rescuers and witnesses recount the frantic moments they raced into the water to save her.

For Coogee Surf Life Saving Club president Ben Heenan, the screams from the water were enough to know something had gone terribly wrong.

“I heard a yell and started to see some red in the water and some splashing, you just kind of instinctively knew what had happened,” he said.

Heenan had only just finished his own swim when the 35-year-old woman was attacked about 20 to 30 metres from shore yesterday afternoon.

Without hesitation, he paddled back out.

“Obviously, the shark was still out there, but I was on a board. The lady was still in the water. We just wanted to get her out as quickly as possible,” he said.

As rescuers brought the badly injured woman onto the beach with serious wounds to her arm and leg, off-duty emergency physician Dr Ian Ferguson was waiting to help.

“I grabbed the shark bite kit from the wall and just made my way down to the water’s edge,” he said.

Medical crews worked to stabilise the woman before paramedics rushed her to hospital.

“We just focused on stopping the bleeding and giving her oxygen,” Dr Ferguson said.

The woman, understood to be a local mother, remains in a critical but stable condition at St Vincent’s Hospital.

Authorities say there was little she could have done to avoid the attack.

“It wasn’t murky water, it was crystal clear, she was swimming between the flags, doing everything right,” NSW Department of Primary Industries spokesperson Marcel Green said.

Local MP Marjorie O’Neill said the attack had rattled the community.

“It’s scary right? All the warning signs we get told about sharks, this was everything against it,” she said.

The incident has reignited debate over shark management, with some politicians calling for stronger measures.

Asked about renewed calls for shark culling, Nationals MP David Littleproud said, “Yeah, I think we have to.”

NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane says there should be a review carried out.

“There are too many shark attacks. We need to put humans ahead of sharks,” she said.

The state government has not ruled out a shark cull amid mounting pressure for a response.

The attack has also put beachgoers across Sydney on edge.

At Coogee on Sunday, the usually busy water remained largely empty, with a lone jet ski patrolling offshore while people watched from the beach.

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At Bondi, only a handful of visitors ventured into the shallows.

Further north at Bilgola Beach, Surf Life Saving drones spotted seven sharks this morning, prompting an evacuation of the water.

Authorities believe the shark involved in Saturday’s attack was untagged and entered the beach area without being detected.

The Department of Primary Industries says it has tagged about 60 great white sharks since January but maintains there is no evidence shark numbers off the NSW coast have increased.

Green warned that no safety system could eliminate the risk entirely.

“We can never be protected 100 per cent at every beach, every day, all the time,” he said.