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Marine waters has consistently been a major aspect of Glen Butler's existence.

For five decades a surfer for five decades and, during that period, he explains he seldom worried about sharks.

"You recognize you're stepping into their territory, so you're careful," the experienced waterman remarked.

But the surfer's comfort while surfing was shattered recently.

He had ventured for a wave session with his companions one Saturday morning at the beach area in the beach communities north of Sydney. Not long after he left of the water, companion surfer the experienced surfer was fatally attacked by a large marine predator.

"It's shaken us somewhat," the surfer admits. The surfer and his twin brother Mike were familiar in the local community, he adds: "Typically you'd say g'day."

Australia Highest Risk Location for Shark Attacks

The country is host to many of the world's best shorelines. Above 80% of the population resides on the shoreline, so an sunrise ocean swim or boarding is typical for many of beachgoers each day.

Yet there are residents who think that common practice is turning increasingly risky.

A Sydney resident is one of them.

The senior Sydneysider recollects looking at enormous large predators caught by fishermen as a youngster, during the time the now-protected species could still be lawfully captured.

Observing these deceased animals suspended by their rear fins provoked a "gallows-like" feeling, he explains, but not anxiety. Marine predators were creatures of the open sea, he reasoned, and he rode waves in the less deep coastal areas.

However five years ago, his child his daughter was bitten by a shark species while free-diving on the Great Barrier Reef. Even though she survived, it made him worried about the animals – a concern that escalates with each dramatic report about an encounter.

"These things trigger me… I'm frightened," he admits.

While 'The victim was only the second person lost by a marine incident in the metropolitan area over the past half-century, it's small consolation to those who commonly visit the city's beaches.

Every surfer spoken to in the time after the surfer's fatal encounter said they feel shark sightings closer to shore are turning increasingly common.

"We occasionally may have observed a unidentified shape, but it may have been a ocean creature," says the resident. "Presently, I spot them all the time."

Some concern that shark numbers are exploding, after various kinds - featuring 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 population counts to accurately assess the situation – but researchers suggest an increase in sightings doesn't necessarily mean there are additional predators.

Environmental experts propose that rising sea temperatures are altering the swimming and feeding habits of sharks. But scientists note any increase in observations is largely due to growing quantities of people venturing into the ocean, and they are amplified by online platforms.

The probability of being nipped by a marine predator in Australia is still extremely small. People are many thousands times more probable to experience water-related fatality. Indeed, however, that the land is a predator encounter high-risk area.

The country ranks next after the United States - a country with much larger the population - for marine incidents, and it tops the globe for fatal attacks, as per the worldwide tracking system.

The tracking system only monitors "non-induced" encounters – excluding those possibly stimulated by humans through actions such as underwater hunting – but a more comprehensive record of all recorded shark interactions in the nation is maintained by wildlife organization.

The data indicates that shark attacks have broadly been rising over recent decades. Currently this year there have been four deadly incidents - every one spontaneous.

Nets 'Similar to a Tissue in a Swimming Area'

New South Wales had been preparing to experiment scaling back its deployment of shark nets – its longest-running marine protection approach – when the recent lethal encounter occurred.

Predator meshes have been implemented in the region since the 1930s and these days are typically installed on 51 beaches from early spring through to March. Aside from Queensland, it is the sole region that continues to employ them.

It cannot be done to cordon off entire beaches – sea states are very forceful and would simply wash the barriers away.

Alternatively, the marine barriers are about nearly 500 feet long and sit a several feet below the water's surface. While fastened to the marine bed at locations, they do not extend to the base. So marine predators can swim over, beneath and past them.

"It resembles placing a napkin into the swimming area," Academic institution Professor a shark researcher explained.

Government officials says shark nets are "not designed to form a total separation between beachgoers and marine animals" but instead seek to "trap specific predators" during any {hunts