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The ocean has consistently been a significant aspect of Glen Butler's life.

For five decades a board enthusiast for half a century and, during that period, he notes he rarely concerned himself about sharks.

"You recognize you're entering into their territory, so you're vigilant," the senior surfer remarked.

But Mr Butler's assurance while surfing was shaken recently.

He had ventured for a ocean outing with his surfing buddies one early weekend at the coastal spot in Sydney's northern beaches. Shortly after Mr Butler exited of the ocean, another wave rider Mercury Psillakis was tragically lost by a large marine predator.

"It's shaken us somewhat," the surfer admits. Mercury and his brother Mike were recognized in the beach community, he continues: "Typically you'd say hello."

The nation Deadliest Place for Marine Encounters

The country is host to numerous the globally renowned coastal areas. Above 80% of the residents dwells on the coast, so an dawn swim or wave session is common for thousands of people each day.

However there are people who believe that regular routine is growing progressively hazardous.

Mirek Craney is among them.

The elderly Sydneysider recalls looking at enormous large predators hauled in by fishing crews as a child, in the days the currently protected marine life could still be lawfully captured.

Seeing these dead beasts hung by their tails elicited a "macabre" sensation, he describes, but not terror. Ocean hunters were creatures of the marine depths, he thought, and he rode waves in the less deep bays.

But half a decade back, his offspring his daughter was attacked by a pig eye shark while diving on the coral reef. Even though she was not fatally injured, it led Mr Craney anxious about the animals – an issue that grows with each splashy report about an attack.

"These events affect me… I'm terrified," he admits.

Although 'The surfer was only the next victim lost by a shark attack in Sydney over the past six decades, it's small consolation to those who frequently frequent the urban shorelines.

Every wave rider spoken to in the time after Psillakis' tragic incident said they feel shark sightings closer to shore are growing more frequent.

"We occasionally could have spotted a unidentified shape, but it might have been a marine mammal," notes Mr Craney. "Presently, I spot them all the time."

Some worry that shark numbers are increasing rapidly, after various kinds - encompassing the world's two deadliest marine predators, white sharks and striped sharks - were given varying degrees of conservation in Australian waters.

There is minimal investigation on marine predator statistics to accurately assess the situation – but experts argue an increase in sightings doesn't automatically indicate there are increased populations.

Conservation specialists suggest that warming oceans are altering the migration and hunting patterns of ocean hunters. But researchers note any growth in observations is largely because of increasing numbers of beachgoers going into the water, and they are amplified by online platforms.

The likelihood of being attacked by a ocean hunter in this country is still minute. People are several thousand times more probable to drown. Indeed, though, that the country is a shark attack high-risk area.

The country ranks next after the United States - a nation with 13 times the population - for marine incidents, and it leads the planet for fatal attacks, as per the global database.

The tracking system only tracks "non-induced" incidents – not including those potentially prompted by people through activities such as marine harvesting – but a more comprehensive collection of all reported predator incidents in Australia is kept by conservation group.

The data indicates that marine incidents have overall been growing over recent decades. Currently this period there have been multiple deadly incidents - every one spontaneous.

Nets 'Comparable to a Napkin in a Pool'

NSW had been about to experiment scaling back its use of shark nets – its oldest marine protection method – when the recent fatal attack happened.

Marine barriers have been employed in the state since nearly a century and presently are usually deployed on numerous coastal areas from late winter through to March. Besides the northern state, it is the sole region that still uses them.

It cannot be done to cordon off entire beaches – sea states are too strong and would simply sweep the nets away.

Rather, the shark nets are about nearly 500 feet extending and rest a several feet below the sea level. Although secured to the ocean bottom at locations, they do not extend to the seafloor. So ocean hunters can move above, below and past them.

"It's like throwing a paper into the pool," University of Sydney Researcher a shark researcher commented.

Government officials explains marine barriers are "not created to form a complete division between beachgoers and marine animals" but instead attempt to "catch specific predators" during any {hunts