Safe Swimming Barrier
Beach Enclosures.
What is a Safer Swimming enclosure?
Custom Designed.
Safe for Everyone.
Marine Ready.
Modular.
SSA Barrier 7.2
- Highly visible floating top line for the safety of all beach users
- A long lasting semi rigid mesh barrier – designed for durability with internal stainless steel wires; and a water repelling coating.
- Barrier is ISO 1805 Compliant for Breaking Strength
- All anchored securely into place
| Barrier Size | Mesh Size | GSM | Breaking Strength (newtons) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.2 | 400mm | 430 | 7000 |
| Features | Benefits |
|---|---|
| 6mm compressed braided netting with enhanced stiffness built to ISO 9001 & 140001 quality standards. |  Creates an effective barrier and demarcated safe swimming area. |
| 18 internal marine grade stainless steel wires with 7000 N breaking strength. | Security & Protection of swimmers. |
| Copolymer Netting | Water Repelling material for longer product life and reduced bio-fouling. |
| Durable PE Outer Sleeve | Increases abrasion resistance for longer product life. |
| Designed to move with the ocean – horizontally, vertically & diagonally. | Reduced risk of damage to barrier during changing tides, swell surges & storms. |
| Weighted mid line | Reduces marine life entanglement risks by keeping the barrier taut at all tide levels. |
| Wrack Release System | Sea grass material is released before it can put excessive strain on the barrier & cause damage. |
| Easily maintainable | Suitable for Insitu cleaning & repairs. |
| Modular Design | Easy deployment & retrieval of barrier for winter storage, cleaning & repair. |
| Tamper resistant hardware and netting. | Fewer issues for council. |
| Designed to comply with Playground Standards AS 4685:2021. | No entrapment risk to swimmers. |
| Customisable Design | Can be built to fit specific installation site requirements. |
Installation Options
Jetty Enclosure
Open Water Enclosure
Benefits of the Safer Swimming Design
Our swimming enclosures will:
- Provide a safe and protective demarcated area for swimming
- Represent good financial value for councils for both the initial purchase and ongoing maintenance.
- Have a low environmental footprint.
"A review of the Old Dunsborough beach enclosure trial by Hydrobiology found that it was successful, providing a cost-effective option for a protected swimming area with no environmental impact."
Swimmer Confidence
Swimmer Confidence
Installing a Beach enclosure or swimming barrier is all about giving people confidence. Confidence that they can safely take their family swimming at the beach.
In preparing the Review on the Dunsborough Shark Net, members of the public were asked for their thoughts.
"Great feeling of safety from sharks… making it a very relaxed swim. I wish more popular beaches were able to install these enclosures. Hopefully the net will stay there permanently."
Leanne Groser
When installed at popular beaches, like Busselton, the swimming enclosure itself becomes an attraction. Installing safe swimming areas creates tangible social benefits for communities.
People seek peace of mind and a feeling of safety when entering the water within the enclosure. The installation of the inflatable water park during the Summer months at Busselton is a great example of how creating a safe swimming space can then lead to other activations, and attract visitors.
Anecdotally, the swimming enclosure also gives parents peace of mind by creating a clearly demarcated area for kids to swim within, plus the top float line is a safe, buoyant place for swimmers to rest. Plus after time in the water, barrier mesh attract algae and over time grow into a mini marine microcosm, attracting fish, and this makes for interesting snorkeling.
Cost-Effective Shark Barriers
Local Governments are generally the tier of government responsible for the installation and maintenance of the beach enclosures. Whilst it’s true that State or Federal Government may contribute to the initial purchase of the netted structures, this does not represent the total cost of ownership.
Calculating the total cost
The initial purchase can be looked at as having two main components – the installation of the heavy-duty securing points, generally the pilings of the beach anchors; and then the supply and installation of the barrier.
Factors affecting the cost for supply and installation of the barrier will be driven by:
- Number of people required for deployment
- Time taken to deploy, which will depend on the complexity of the barrier
Once installed, councils will generally put in place a routine inspection & maintenance schedule to ensure that the barrier is functioning as it should and hasn’t been tampered with in any way.
- An opportunity for thorough and easier cleaning of the barrier on land
- Time for inspection of the barrier to identify any wear and tear or repairs that may need addressing
- Protection of the barrier from potentially harsher winter storm conditions, depending on the season
Sustainability
While protecting swimmers is our motivating purpose, we also know it can be done in a way that has very little impact on the marine environment.
Our solution is marine biologist approved, so you can be sure that reducing any potential negative impacts on marine life were top of mind. The three key areas that the enclosure needed to address were:
- Not allowing by-catch
- Low installation impact
- Allowing the movement of seagrass wracks.
We’re pleased to say that we’ve been able to tick all three of these boxes with every swimming enclosure, right from the very beginning.
No By-catch Recorded
The initial trial enclosure installed at Dunsborough reported that the design we use for our swimming enclosures did not result in any other marine life becoming entangled.
Some of our swimming barriers have been installed at locations for nine years now, and over this time there have been no reports of the accidental capture, trapping, injury, or death of or to marine organisms as a result of the installed shark swimming barriers.
The mesh structure is large, highly visible, and relatively rigid. This makes the potential for entanglement extremely unlikely. The mesh is sized so that marine mammals or reptiles are far too large to get caught, while fish will avoid the visual cues associated with the colors and thickness of the material.
It is important not to confuse the barrier nets we are promoting with the Shark Nets used on the East Coast of Australia. In NSW, a larger, looser mesh-size net is deployed, under the water with the specific aim of catching sharks. Additionally, the net does not create a protected enclosure for swimmers. Studies have shown that the nets actually end up catching & killing many other none targets species like dolphins, turtles, and stingrays.
Low Installation Impact
Swimming enclosures to protect against sharks, are most often installed at popular and well-loved beaches. Plus, the WA coastline is a beautiful and fragile place.
So, when it comes to the design of swimming enclosures, we believe that it’s important to reduce the environmental disturbance at the time of installation, as well as get the installation done as quickly and cleanly as possible to reduce the amount of time that access to these public open spaces need to be closed.
Sea Grass Wrack Movement
The ocean environment is constantly moving – the ebb and flow of tides, as well as current flows, swell patterns, and storms all create changes under the surface.
Seagrass forms large clumps or “wracks” along the ocean floor, and a barrier, will cause the seagrass to build up along it.
This interrupts the normal passage of seagrass through the bays and coves.
Also, without a way of moving past the barrier, the build-up will increase rapidly, placing pressure and strain on the barrier, and increasing the rate of wear on the barrier.
We have designed a mechanism that allows the seagrass wrack to pass through the barrier when a certain level of pressure is achieved, thus reducing the barrier’s interference with the ocean’s natural movements.
"The shark net does therefore provide a guaranteed safe enclosure in which bathers can enter the water knowing they are safe from a shark attack. It also provides beach users with the choice to enter the water at a safe location alternative to a beach where there is no protection."
SSA Barrier 7.2
SSA barriers are designed to keep swimmers safe from large marine animals, through the use of high quality marine grade components and good design.
Our Barrier consists of:
- Highly visible floating top line for the safety of all beach users
- A long lasting semi rigid mesh barrier – designed for durability with internal stainless steel wires; and a water repelling coating.
- Barrier is ISO 1805 Compliant for Breaking Strength
- All anchored securely into place
| Barrier Size | Mesh Size | GSM | Breaking Strength (newtons) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7.2 | 400mm | 430 | 7000 |
Over the past ten years we’ve sourced the best materials for use in our barriers to ensure maximum benefits to councils installing them.
| Features | Benefits |
|---|---|
| 6mm compressed braided netting with enhanced stiffness built to ISO 9001 & 140001 quality standards. | Creates an effective barrier and demarcated safe swimming area. |
| 18 internal marine grade stainless steel wires with 7000 N breaking strength. | Security & Protection of swimmers. |
| Copolymer Netting | Water Repelling material for longer product life and reduced bio-fouling. |
| Durable PE Outer Sleeve | Increases abrasion resistance for longer product life. |
| Designed to move with the ocean – horizontally, vertically & diagonally. | Reduced risk of damage to barrier during changing tides, swell surges & storms. |
| Weighted mid line | Reduces marine life entanglement risks by keeping the net taut at all tide levels. |
| Wrack Release System | Sea grass material is released before it can put excessive strain on the barrier & cause damage. |
| Easily maintainable | Suitable for Insitu cleaning & repairs. |
| Modular Design | Easy deployment & retrieval of nets for winter storage, cleaning & repair. |
| Tamper resistant hardware and netting. | Fewer issues for council. |
| Designed to comply with Playground Standards AS 4685:2021. | No entrapment risk to swimmers. |
| Customisable Design | Can be built to fit specific installation site requirements. |
Installation Options
Jetty Enclosure