I've see some banner ads on seabreaze for sharksmart www.sharksmart.com.au/shark-activity/
Now does this sort of a site really help? Or does it blow things out of proportion as in we know there are sharks in the ocean, but now we hear about them more cause they are now sighted and reported. A bit like when you get a new car then you start noticing more of the colour and model of your car on the road. To me its just more govt induced fear to distract and manipulate/control the people.
After adding fallingkillercoconutswatch.com to my favourites im too scared to go anywhere tropical.
I think we also need a govt website for bees badassbeewatch.com.au

Do you guys have "shark week" on the TV every year like we do in the U.S.?
The same question applies, those can be scary documentaries, and we get shark week at the beginning of our summers.
However I like it, the more people are too scared to go out into the ocean, the more waves for the rest of us, so I consider it a win.
Us ocean lovers already know just about all there is to know about fluffy and his friends, so proportion is really in the eye of the surfers and divers only.
To hell with everybody else, they can stay on land or in there boats, hopefully their boats are big enough, unlike the "Orca".

I say paranoia.
Sailing in Safety Bay/Warnbro Sound, I used to read up on sharksmart but after seeing the Warnbro Sound beacon going balistic for 3 weeks I stopped.
It didn't stop me from going out but it did increase the thoughts of sharks while I was out there.
But now what has been learned can not be unlearned.
Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

I check Sharksmart - if there's a confirmed recent sighting around Dutchies and no swell anyway I probably would just sail locally.
I reckon it's useful information that you can apply your own filters to.

Plenty of ways to be brave and masculine without having to pretend that sharks don't worry you

On the East Coast I use the Dorsal app on the phone. Seems to work OK, I prefer to know but yeh it does add Paranoia. We've got a couple of 3m + whites our Lake here and its nice to know where they hang out :)

To me ignorance is bliss, we all know they are out there but no point thinking about it and creating major paranoia while in the ocean

+1 for paranoia
We don't have shartsmart or whatever
But I took this dude from work and his family on a snorkel tour around our coral reef at low tide
Mum, dad and three little kiddies all had those shark ankle bands on
Reminded me of those holographic wrist bands that gave you superpowers everyone was wearing a while ago

There's certainly an element of Paranoia there, no doubt about that.

There has to be some benefit of this program as well. I grew up in South of Perth and surf down that way quite often. There are still a few spots where you can roll up mid week and get the odd wave to yourself. There are no lifeguards on duty and no watch towers. Some of these spots are out of view of the road and you'll rarely see anyone else around.

How am i supposed to know if the lineup has been cleared by a shark an hour before I rock up if there's nobody around to tell me?

Just because sharksmart beacon is activated Doesn't mean that fisheries know about it.
Warnbro beacon pinged 13 days straight with a tagged white. The only info Beach goers had was a 3 line insert in the courier times. No signage. No extra patrols.
The day after I reported it the fisheries launch was on the scene but didn't find anything.