Wednesday, 23 December 2015 

L-R: Jann Gilbert (marine scientist), Kylie Maguire (shark bite survivor) and Jonathan Clark (school teacher)Three Sea Shepherd crew members working on the Apex Harmony shark campaign were questioned by police this morning regarding their activities.

The questioning came about as a result of New South Wales fisheries making a false accusation based on no evidence at all, that the Sea Shepherd crew had de-baited the smart drum lines in Ballina and Byron Bay.

National Shark Campaign Coordinator, Natalie Banks, who was in contact with the crew as the questioning took place, has stated that the accusation is completely false and that Sea Shepherd has had a long history of bringing transparency to programs that affect marine life.

Our role in Western Australia when the shark cull was occurring was to monitor and document the impact of the drum lines, our role in Queensland has been to monitor and document the impact of the Shark Control Program and our role in New South Wales is again to monitor and document the impact of the smart drum lines,” Natalie said.

To falsely accuse our crew of de-baiting the smart drum line hooks is not only an intimidation technique, but is almost satirical when you consider that the crew onboard our RHIB today consisted of a respected marine scientist, a shark bite survivor and a school teacher.”

Sea Shepherd will continue to monitor the smart drum lines in the coming months.

Visit our  Operation Apex Harmony site for more information