Have you seen the majestic whales migrating up the coast, and getting caught in shark nets, recently? Burleigh Heads is a good spot for whale entanglement watching – and protesting against shark nets.

Local diver Inaki Aizpun, who has been taking divers out to the marine park over the last five years, recently saved a Grey Nurse Shark from a slow and painful death.

Ballina’s Deputy Mayor, Keith Williams, is urging residents to complete the NSW DPI on-line Survey on Shark Nets before it closes this afternoon, warning that this will be the community’s last opportunity to have a say before the Minister decides the fate of future net trials.

Though I am on my way to somewhere else, I pause at the mangroves. They are a steadfast shelter as the fierce winds shift. Their roots steady the muddy bank under my feet.

Knee-jerk reactions to shark bites thanks to fear mongering by the media have skewed shark mitigation debate, says Sea Shepherd Apex Harmony QLD co-ordinator Jonathan Clark.

Several locals including Ian Cohen and Dean Jefferys were at the hearing presenting their position on shark deterrents at the senate enquiry into shark mitigation and deterrents that took place last Tuesday 2 May in Byron Bay.

Shark mitigation and deterrents are on the agenda for a meeting in Byron Bay today of the Senate Environment and Communications Senate Committee.

NSW premier Mike Baird will oversee the installation of the first shark net at a Ballina beach tomorrow. The installation of the net comes after the state government passed the Shark Management Amendment Bill on Tuesday night, which allows for a six-month trial of nets at five local beaches.