Beach Enclosures

Staying Safe

The Western Australian Government is committed to keeping the community as safe as possible when using our oceans. There is no one simple solution, shark encounters are rare and the following shark safety initiatives, operational responses and shark safety tips, allow the community to keep informed and help reduce the risk of a shark encounter.

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Beach Enclosures

20 September 2018

A beach enclosure is a protected swimming area featuring a physical barrier to reduce the risk of a shark encounter. The barrier aims to prevent sharks from entering an enclosed area and covers the full water column (anchored to the seabed and connected to floats at the surface)

Shark barriers differ from shark netting, in that they do not trap marine life, whereas netting is designed to trap sharks.

The Western Australian Government has provided funding towards a number of beach enclosures to protect swimmers from sharks.

Current locations include:

Old Dunsborough Beach, City of Busselton
Busselton foreshore, City of Busselton
Middleton Beach, City of Albany
Quinns Beach, City of Wanneroo
James Street groyne, Shire of Esperance
Bicton Baths, City of Melville

The City of Cockburn and Town of Cottesloe have funded their own enclosures at Coogee Beach and Cottesloe Beach respectively.

View the locations of beach enclosures on the shark activity map.

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