Daily London
After two months, Maria Psillakis felt it was time to tell everyone about her husband, Mercury Psillakis, who lost his life following a shark attack in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
She is on a mission to prevent other families from suffering the same heartbreak of losing a loved one to a shark.
“Losing Merc has put a place in my heart that I can’t really put into words. He is – was – my rock, my everything.”
Mercury Psillakis was surfing with some friends on September 6 at Dee Why and was only in the water for half an hour before the great white struck.
“If we can make a positive out of this loss, I just want to, like I said, minimise the risk and perhaps prevent this from happening to another family,” Maria said.
“I have a little girl that keeps on asking why, and I don’t know what to tell her.”
It happened two weeks before the start of the patrol season.
The surf club was closed and the shark alarm was not triggered for 45 minutes.
“Not half an hour later, there were children swimming within 10 metres of where my husband was.”
Maria understands that the ocean will always be dangerous for surfers.
“He knew the risks involved, he was aware that it was their territory and not his.”
Maria now has questions she wants answered about how to minimise the risk of shark attacks, including the use of drones, which are only used in Sydney for shark patrols in Summer.
She also wants to strengthen protections.
Mercury was 80 metres offshore, and the predator was untagged with smart drum lines, meaning authorities couldn’t detect it.
“I want to advocate for evidence-based systems to perhaps prevent another tragedy like this.”
Member for Wakehurst Michael Regan is helping her fight for change.
”Maria, along with Surfing NSW, approached us with a drone program that they wanted to roll out in the metro areas that exist in the regional areas,” he said.
Maria is taking her fight for change all the way to the top, asking Premier Chris Minns to sit down for a round table with scientists, surf lifesavers, and the community to save lives.
“I want [Mercury] to be remembered as the remarkable guy he was… is.”
