Tag Archives: shark attacks

Shark Incursions Brisbane

Shark Incursions Brisbane

 

Looking for topical Shark Incursions in Brisbane that are hands-on, curriculum-aligned and unforgettable?

Ocean Life Education delivers engaging marine education programs to Brisbane Early Learning Centres and Primary Schools, bringing live sharks and other marine animals, shark artefacts and ocean science directly into your classroom.

It’s not just a visit. It’s a deep dive into understanding the local ocean – and why sharks matter more than most people realise.

Why Book a Shark Incursion for Your Brisbane School?

When schools search for marine education incursions in Brisbane, they’re looking for programs that are:

✔ Aligned with the Australian Curriculum & EYLF
✔ Age-appropriate for Early Years and Primary
✔ Science-based and engaging
✔ Memorable and interactive
✔ Delivered by qualified marine educators

Ocean Life Education’s Shark Incursion Brisbane programs tick every box – while also building environmental awareness and critical thinking skills. And what’s more, kids get to meet a real live shark!

Book an Incursion Now

Why Sharks Are Crucial to Ecosystems (And Why Kids Need to Know)

Reef-sharks-swimming-with-other-fish-amongst-the-coral

Sharks are apex predators – which means they sit at the top of the food chain. Their role is essential for:

✔ Maintaining balance in marine food webs

✔ Preventing overpopulation of mid-level species

✔ Protecting coral reefs and seagrass beds

✔ Supporting biodiversity across the ocean

When shark populations decline, entire ecosystems can suffer.

Teaching students about sharks helps replace fear with understanding – and empowers them to see how healthy oceans connect directly to healthy communities, climate stability and even the seafood industries we rely on.

Education builds future ocean stewards.

Read more about shark’s role in ecosystems.

Early Years Shark Incursions (EYLF Aligned) 🐠

For Brisbane Kindergartens and Early Learning Centres, our shark incursions focus on sensory exploration, curiosity and foundational science concepts.

Students explore:

✔ Marine habitats

✔Animal features and adaptations

✔ Simple food chains

✔ Respect for living creatures

Live animal interaction and observation of a real shark, as well as tactile experiences help young learners connect emotionally with marine life – an important step in developing environmental empathy.

shark incursionsSuggested Follow-Up Activities (EY):

🐚 Marine sensory tubs with shells and ocean textures

📖 Shark storytelling and movement play

🎨 Paint and label “parts of a shark”

🌊 Habitat matching games – focusing on local habitat, such as the Brisbane River, The Great Barrier Reef, or The Sunshine Coast coastal region.

These all align perfectly with EYLF Outcomes.

See our SHARK RESOURCES

 

Primary School Shark Incursions Brisbane 🦈

For Primary students across Brisbane and South East Queensland, programs go deeper into marine science and ecosystems.

Students investigate:

✔ Shark biology and adaptations

✔ Predator-prey relationships

✔ Food webs and ecosystem balance

✔ Human impact and conservation

✔ Shark myths vs facts

Observing a real shark and real shark jaws and artefacts create a powerful learning moment that students remember long after the session ends.

Suggested Follow-Up Activities (Primary):

🧠 Build a Marine Food Web
Students create a visual web showing sharks at the top and explore what happens if they’re removed. This can focus around local species, such as turtles and local types of fish.

📊 Shark Species Research Task
Compare different shark species, habitats and conservation status. Look at what different shark species live in local rivers and off the coast of Queensland and the human impact on them.

🎨 Ocean Conservation Campaign Posters
Encourage persuasive writing and sustainability awareness using local issues such as the Nets Out Now Campaign or considering shark bite incidents that have affected Australia recently, such as in Sydney.

🔬 Adaptation Investigation Stations
Match shark features (teeth, fins, gills) to survival functions.

These activities support Australian Curriculum Science strands including Biological Sciences and Sustainability cross-curriculum priorities.

See our SHARK RESOURCES

Shark Education in Brisbane: Why It Matters

Brisbane is a coastal city. Many students regularly visit beaches across South East Queensland and sharks inhabit our local waterways and coastline. Sharks are a very topical and living case study for Brisbane children, which assists in bringing learning to life.

Understanding sharks through education:

  • Reduces fear and misinformation
  • Promotes safer ocean behaviour
  • Builds marine science literacy
  • Encourages environmental responsibility

When children learn that sharks help protect reefs, regulate ecosystems and maintain ocean health, they begin to see the ocean as an interconnected system – not just a place to swim.

That shift in thinking is powerful.

Read our blog: Why (Shark) Ocean Education Matters More than Ever.

Book a Shark Incursion in Brisbane

Ocean Life Education has delivered thousands of marine education sessions across Brisbane and Queensland.

Bring the ocean to your classroom – and inspire the next generation of ocean guardians.

Useful Links

Thank you for reading: Shark Incursions Brisbane

Author: Hayey Gee

A Summer of Tragedy: Why Ocean Education Matters More Than Ever

Why Sharks Matter

 

A Summer of Tragedy: Why Ocean Education Matters More Than Ever

The recent series of shark encounters in Sydney, including one tragic fatality, is a sobering reminder of why education about the ocean and its inhabitants is so important. While these events are devastating, they also highlight a crucial truth: understanding marine environments, shark behaviour, and safe swimming practices can significantly reduce the risk of dangerous encounters.

If more people had a basic understanding of shark movement patterns, feeding behaviour, and how weather events affect ocean conditions, many of these incidents may have been avoided.

Shark & SurferHow Heavy Rain Changes Shark Behaviour

Over summer, Sydney experienced substantial rainfall. This causes large volumes of freshwater, along with pollution and runoff, to flow into rivers, canals, and bays. Bull sharks, which often inhabit these areas, are forced out of their usual environments in search of cleaner, saltier water.

As a result, they move along the coastline and closer to popular recreational areas such as Sydney’s Northern Beaches.

However, even coastal water after heavy rain is often murky and dirty. In low-visibility conditions, sharks cannot rely on sight to hunt. Instead, they detect vibrations in the water. Erratic splashing or surface movement can feel like injured fish or prey, causing sharks to investigate. They do this with their mouths, which can result in catastrophic injuries to humans.

It’s important to understand that sharks – including bull sharks – do not consider humans to be food. These encounters are cases of mistaken identity.

Safer Swimming Starts With Knowledge – The Message is Simple & Clear:

Swimmer at Dusk

Avoid swimming in murky or dirty water, especially after heavy rain

Don’t swim at dawn or dusk, when visibility is low and sharks are more actively feeding

Pay attention to water conditions, warnings, and local advice

If more people were armed with this knowledge, safer swimming practices would be far more widely followed – and the risk of incidents would be greatly reduced.

Education, Not Fear, Is the Answer

We must learn to live with the environment and all that is in it, not try to change it to suit ourselves. Culling sharks is not the answer to making the ocean safer.

Education is.

By teaching children and adults how ocean ecosystems work, how animals behave, and how to safely enjoy our beaches, we empower people to make smarter, safer choices – and protect both humans and marine life.

At Ocean Life Education, this is exactly what we believe in: building understanding, respect, and knowledge so we can all enjoy the ocean more safely and responsibly.

Useful Links

Our Educational Programs

Shark Teaching Resources & Courses

ABC Article: Living with fear of sharks is part of life in the ocean

Thank you for reading: A Summer of Tragedy: Why Ocean Education Matters More Than Ever

Sharks Down Under – Amazing Australian Shark Facts

Hammerhead

Contrary to popular belief, mainly brought about by scary shark movies, you have more chance of being killed by a coconut than a shark! Over-fishing and unsustainable practices are causing shark populations to decline worldwide. Amazing sharks play an important role in our oceans and on our majestic reefs and we should all be concerned about their numbers declining. We believe that the big danger is not sharks; the big danger is shark extinction. Here in Australia, we are luck to have bountiful species of shark living off our coastline. Read on to discover some interesting facts about sharks of Australia, why we need sharks in Australia and why we need to protect sharks living off the coast of Australia in our Amazing Australian Shark Facts blog…

 

Sharks in Australian Waters

Shark resources

There are considered to be around 180 species of sharks in Australian waters and 500 species worldwide. In fact, around 50 species of shark live right here, off the Eastern Coast of Queensland. Eastern Australia’s grey nurse sharks are considered critically endangered and school sharks (sometimes known as flake in fish and chip shops) and scalloped hammerheads are on the endangered shark list too.

 

Sharks Commonly Found off Australia

The following sharks are commonly found off Australia’s coast: Great White, Port Jackson, Thresher, Zebra Shark, Tiger Shark, Tasselled Wobbegong, Whale Shark, Oceanic Whitetip, Blacktip Reef, Grey Nurse, Bull Shark, Bronze Whaler, Great Hammerhead, Blind Shark, Pygmy Shark

 

Why Do We Need Sharks?

 There is no doubt that we need sharks. As apex predators, sharks help maintain the balance of life in the sea. Sharks are a vital part of the food chain, controlling mid-sized predators and allowing small reef fish to thrive. Small reef fish take care of our amazing coral reef, therefore sharks help keep coral reef healthy. Without sharks, we would be denied the pleasure of exploring amazing underwater habitats such as the world’s largest natural wonder, Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef. The global economic impact on tourism and of declining fish stocks would be huge. So, have no doubt, we need sharks!

 

Why Are Shark Populations in Decline?

Shark populations are in decline globally and in Australian waters. 100 million sharks are killed in worldwide fisheries each year and habitat degradation, pollution and climate change are also impacting international shark populations. Controversial shark nets and drum lines (designed to protect human populations) add further to the decline.

Sharks live a long time (20-30 years), grow slowly and take a long time to mature and reach reproductive age. This means that even if we slow the decline in shark populations now, populations will take a long time to recover.

 

Sharks Facts QuizShould I Be Scared of Sharks in Australia?

No! We don’t think you should be scared of sharks. The ocean is their home and when we visit their home we need to be very aware and respectful of them.

  • On average, one person a year is killed in a shark attack in Australia.

To put things in perspective…

  • 5 people die from falling out of bed
  • 10 people are struck down by lightning
  • 1,100 are killed on our roads

 

Ultimate Shark Facts 

Check out our ultimate shark facts and discover how much you really know about sharks.

  • The largest species of shark is the whale shark
  • Baby sharks are called pups
  • Shark bones are made of cartilage
  • Many sharks have multiple rows of sharp teeth – they can grow 35, 000 in a lifetime
  • Shark skin feels like sandpaper
  • The collective noun for a shark is a Shiver (or School, Shoal)
  • The fastest shark in the ocean is the Shortfin Mako Shark (up to 74k an hour)
  • The smallest species of shark is the Dwarf Lantern Shark (smaller than a human hand)
  • Sharks have eyelids but they do not blink
  • Sharks do not see in colour
  • 10% of shark species are bioluminescent – they light up in the dark
  • 180 species of shark live off the coast of Australia – 400 species worldwide
  • Bull sharks can live in fresh and salt water
  • Some sharks lay eggs (oviparous) others give birth to live young (viviparous), and some are a combination of these two, they start life inside their mother as an egg, hatch inside her and then are born live (ovoviviparous)
  • Egg laying sharks lay egg cases known as mermaid’s purses
  • Unlike humans, sharks breathe through gills, so their nostrils are purely dedicated to smelling
  • Sharks are able to detect blood from 5 km
  • Sharks can identify which of their two nostrils have picked up a scent – enabling them to determine the direction to swim to find food
  • Some species of shark can survive for up to 3 months between meals
  • Sharks can sense vibrations from 3 kilometres away

 

What Can I Do to Help Protect Sharks?

  • Educate yourself and your friends
  • Share your love of sharks on your social media channels
  • Join a volunteer shark conservation organisation like sharkconservationorg.au, marineconservation.org.au, seashepherd.com.au (make a donation if you can)
  • Join a beach clean or just clean as you go!
  • Buy sustainable seafood and check restaurants have done so. Avoid flake at the Fish & Chip shop as it may be endangered shark
  • Ask politicians to support ocean acidification research

Ocean Life Education is passionate about protecting all marine animals and focusing on the important role sharks play in our oceans.  We aim to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the most feared fish in the sea.

Check out our Shark Discovery Program for more information on how to inspire kids to love and respect sharks: www.oceanlifeeducation.com.au/programs/holiday-program/ 

Want to know more about Amazing Australian Shark Facts?

online shark course

Check out our Amazing Sharks Online Course

 

We hope you enjoyed reading out blog: Amazing Australian Shark Facts