Regional volunteers lend a helping hand for abalone patrols

The second West Coast Zone Abalone fishing season went ahead as planned on Saturday, 13 January with large crowds taking advantage of the near perfect conditions of small swell and light winds hoping to get their catch!

In addition to the patrols provided by Yanchep, Quinns, Mullaloo, Sorrento and Secret Harbour Surf Life Saving Clubs, Surf Life Saving WA operations were in full swing for the duration of the fishing period, including extended SurfCom service hours to provide essential support to the Westpac Lifesaver Rescue Helicopter, Wesfarmers Lifesaver Jetski Team and Drone Patrol.

Also assisting on the morning were additional volunteers from Denmark, Scarboro and Alkimos Clubs.

Denmark Surf Life Saving Club President, Jane Kelsbie, along with Club Youth Officer Anthony McEwan and eight of their cadet lifesavers, travelled to Perth to participate in the patrols, grasping the opportunity as a learning experience for their cadets and seeing the potential for this activity to become an annual inter-club exchange.

“We split the cadets across the different beaches and they were able to ask questions and learn from the experience,” she said.

Ms Kelsbie commented on how incredibly well organised, participated and managed the patrols were, remarking that she had never seen anything like it in her life.

The optimum weather conditions on the day undoubtedly contributed to the lower than usual actions necessary with 3 rescues, 3 first aids and 30 preventative actions performed by surf life saving services during the one hour fishing period.

We can’t thank our volunteers and Clubs enough for their ongoing efforts to provide these services. Should any other clubs or volunteers be interested in participating in patrols, please contact Josh McCleery in SLSWA’s Lifesaving team for further information. The next abalone fishing season is scheduled for Saturday, 3 February. For information on locations, dates and safety tips see the Abalone webpage.