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The sea has consistently been a central part of Glen Butler's daily routine.

For five decades a surfer for 50 years and, during that period, he explains he seldom concerned himself about sharks.

"You're aware you're stepping into their territory, so you're vigilant," the senior surfer stated.

However his assurance on the water was broken in recent weeks.

He traveled for a surf with his friends one Saturday morning at the coastal spot in the beach communities north of Sydney. Not long after the surfer exited of the ocean, fellow surfer the experienced surfer was fatally attacked by a white shark.

"It has rattled us a bit," he confesses. The victim and his identical sibling his brother were recognized in the local community, he continues: "You'd always say g'day."

The nation Highest Risk Location for Marine Encounters

The continent is host to numerous the planet's finest shorelines. More than 80% of the residents dwells on the shoreline, so an dawn dip or surf is common for many of people every day.

But there are residents who think that daily ritual is growing more dangerous.

Mirek Craney is one of them.

The senior Sydneysider recalls staring at huge large predators caught by anglers as a child, back in the era the currently protected marine life could still be legally hunted.

Witnessing these lifeless creatures dangling by their tails provoked a "execution-style" feeling, he explains, but not terror. Marine predators were creatures of the open sea, he reasoned, and he surfed in the shallower inlets.

Yet half a decade back, his child his daughter was attacked by a marine predator while diving on the marine park. Although she was not fatally injured, it led Mr Craney worried about the marine life – an issue that grows with each dramatic headline about an encounter.

"These events impact me… I'm frightened," he admits.

Though 'The surfer was only the next victim fatally attacked by a shark attack in the city over the past half-century, it's minimal reassurance to those who commonly use the coastal areas.

Every board enthusiast spoken to in the time after the surfer's fatal encounter stated they believe shark appearances closer to shore are turning more frequent.

"Sometimes we may have observed a unidentified shape, but it may have been a dolphin," says the local. "Now, I spot them regularly."

Several worry that shark counts are increasing rapidly, after several types - including the planet's most lethal ocean hunters, white sharks and tigers - were given varying degrees of conservation in local marine areas.

There's little investigation on shark numbers to accurately assess either way – but researchers argue an rise in observations doesn't necessarily mean there are more sharks.

Marine researchers propose that rising sea temperatures are modifying the migration and hunting patterns of ocean hunters. But experts say any rise in appearances is largely due to more and more people venturing into the ocean, and they are enhanced by online platforms.

The chance of being bitten by a shark here is still extremely small. People are many thousands times more probable to experience water-related fatality. Indeed, however, that the land is a marine incident high-risk area.

It is second only to the US - a land with much larger the population - for predator encounters, and it ranks first the world for lethal encounters, based on the worldwide tracking system.

This record only records "unprovoked" encounters – excluding those possibly encouraged by individuals through practices such as spear fishing – but a complete database of all documented marine encounters in the country is managed by conservation group.

It shows that predator encounters have broadly been increasing over the past years. Currently this year there have been several deadly incidents - all non-induced.

Barriers 'Similar to a Tissue in a Water Body'

New South Wales had been preparing to test reducing its deployment of predator meshes – its oldest shark safety approach – when the most recent fatal attack occurred.

Marine barriers have been used in NSW since the 1930s and these days are commonly placed on 51 beaches from September through to early autumn. Aside from another region, it is the sole region that maintains them.

It cannot be done to completely enclose entire beaches – marine environments are too strong and would readily wash the barriers away.

Instead, the shark nets are approximately 492ft long and rest a few metres below the sea level. Though fastened to the ocean bottom at points, they fail to touch the seafloor. So sharks can swim over, below and past them.

"It resembles placing a tissue into the water body," University of Sydney Researcher a shark researcher explained.

Government officials states predator meshes are "not designed to form a complete division between swimmers and marine animals" but instead aim to "trap target sharks" during any {hunts