Quinns Beach Shark Barrier officially opened by WA Premier

The Quinns Beach Shark Barrier was officially opened this morning by WA Premier, the Hon. Colin Barnett MLA, alongside the City of Wanneroo Mayor Tracey Roberts. 

The Quinns Beach Shark Barrier is now fully complete and open to the public. The public feedback and support for the project has been incredible and it appears to have already had an impact on people's swimming choices. 

The Quinns Beach Swimming Enclosure was co-funded by the WA State Government and the City of Wanneroo. The installation process began on the 18th January and was fully complete and demobilised by the 30th January, less than two weeks after it began. The speed and effectiveness of the installation program was due to the innovative new processes; including using a helicopter, producing the barrier in sections, and completing most of the works out of the water. 

Lennox Head Shark Barrier Nearing Completion

The Aquarius Barrier at Lennox Head has come closer to  completion as work now begins on installing the barrier itself. On Tuesday morning the outer wall (170m long) was pulled out into the ocean and secured to the ground chain by the dive team. The process took most of the day while the divers had to contend with murky water conditions due to disrupted sediment. If weather conditions allow, the Lennox Head shark barrier could be in place as early as this weekend. 

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Most of the installation construction work involved installing the mooring system that holds the shark barrier to the seabed, which has now been fully completed. The team have successfully installed all 21 x 2.4t concrete blocks, 86 x 50kg stingray anchors and 650m of ground chain. 

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The Calm after the Storm - Aquarius Barrier at Middleton Beach

The second monthly service of the Aquarius Barrier was conducted before the long weekend and showed no damage or issues with the Aquarius Barrier, after two weeks of extreme winter weather on the South Coast. 

After further consultation with the community, the council, and the Albany Surf Life Saving Club, it was decided that we should introduce another SLSC access point and move the existing access point. There are now two access points marked with red floats, one at the back over near the rocks and the other in the surf zone near the beach. 

Wild Storms Lash Albany Coast - No Damage to Aquarius Barrier

The Aquarius Barrier technology was seriously tested during the wild storms that lashed the South Coast on Saturday the 21st May. Wild winds (100km/h gusts) and huge 6m swells battered the coastline for most of Saturday and again on Tuesday. The monitoring team went out after each storm and found no damage to the Aquarius Barrier.

The barrier has been re-engineered for Middleton Beach following the events in March. We are confident now that this event has proved the barrier's ability to withstand the most extreme storm conditions at Middleton Beach. There was widespread damage caused to homes, buildings, power lines and barriers around the South West and Metropolitan areas of WA, but the Aquarius Barrier got through unscathed.

Another shark barrier product at Coogee Beach in WA was significantly damaged in the storm, further proof that the Aquarius Barrier is now the strongest eco-friendly shark barrier in the world. 

The picture on the right is taken from the Albany Advertiser Facebook page showing the wild seas nearby at The Gap. 

Fisheries Minister Joe Francis displays Aquarius Barrier PROPOSED for Quinns Beach Wanneroo

Today the Western Australian State Government announced the next round of funding allocations for shark barrier swimming enclosures. A new barrier will be installed at Quinn's Beach in Wanneroo and another at Sorrento Beach in Joondalup. 

The Fisheries Minister, Joe Francis, made the announcement alongside the sample display of the Aquarius Barrier (pictured below). 

According to Mr Francis, the enclosure at Quinns Rocks would provide peace-of-mind to thousands of swimmers who used the beach each year. He also said that the enclosure would be an eco-friendly design to ensure it did not trap sea-life and allowed fish to swim through.