Sharknet beach

Where did the name come from.

I would take a guess that most people never really given much thought to why Shark Net beach has that name.   Like hundreds of others, I have swum, dived and in the early days spearfished along and around Sharknet beach.

Back in the mid 19th-century sharks were a lot more prevalent in the bay than they are today. Whale processing operations were still being carried out in the bay with the blood and runoff attracting large sharks.  The bay's otherwise pristine waters were still rich with fish and marine life,  and largely unexploited,  large sharks were a common occurrence.    There are many stories on shark encounters in the bay and some are covered in this blog - To read more on the sharks in the bay type sharks into the search box in the right-hand column.

This photo above certainly illustrates the reason for the name. The concrete block supports for the structure can still be seen today.

With heavy fishing worldwide sharks have been reduced in numbers, of course, there are still sharks in the bay and sometimes large sharks have been caught and spotted off our headlands and beaches, but nothing compared to the early pioneering days.