A "super rare" fatal shark attack at a major metropolitan beach has added to questions around the efficacy of shark nets, pausing attempts to reduce their use.
Mercury Psillakis, 57, was attacked and killed by a shark off Long Reef Beach on Sydney's northern beaches on Saturday.
Long Reef and nearby Dee Why Beach remain closed today.
Psillakis had been alerting other surfers to the shark before he was attacked, Dee Why local and former pro surfer Toby Martin said.
"We're very aware of the playground and the environment that we're in and conscious of the marine activity," he told Nine's Today programme.
"Unfortunately, he was the last one furthest out to sea and ultimately paid with his life.
"But it's important to recognise this is just a super rare incident."
The Long Reef Boardriders Association held a memorial on Sunday evening for Psillakis, who was "loved by everyone".
"Merc and (twin brother) Mike have spent more time in the ocean at Longy than any people on the planet," the club said on social media.
The fatal attack, the first recorded on the northern beaches in nine decades, has led to a pause on a trial removal of three of the 51 shark nets in NSW.
The nets are installed at beaches between Newcastle and Wollongong at the start of September and removed at the end of March.
There is no net at Long Reef Beach, but "smart" drumlines are used to monitor for shark activity and were in the water when the shark attacked.
Nearby Dee Why Beach has a shark net approximately 500m out from its surf lifesaving club.
But the nets are contentious as they only stretch 150m, do not extend all the way to the seafloor and entangle other wildlife.
Animals can swim around and under the nets and they offer little protection, Macquarie University natural sciences professor Culum Brown said.
"You cannot tell the difference between unprovoked attacks on netted beaches versus other beaches," he told the ABC.
"If they do have any effect, it's largely psychological rather than providing any kind of protection."
A trial removal of nets from one beach each in the Central Coast, Northern Beaches and Waverley local government areas has been paused following the attack.
Councils and the state government had been waiting for the other to nominate beaches where nets could be removed.
Central Coast councillor Jared Wright said the council recently reaffirmed "unanimous support" for participating in the trial.
"We want to be using a mix of more modern and innovative solutions," he said in a statement on Monday.
Amid the debate, Martin urged people to get back into the ocean.
"We don't stop driving because of one fatality," he told the ABC.
"It's a beautiful place to be, the ocean ... it's a safe place."
SHARE ME