Merewether Surf Life Saving Club member Emma Gale was named Support Operations Member of the Year at the recent Hunter Branch Surf Life Saving (SLS) Awards of Excellence, having taken her love of the beach out of the water and into the sky.
The experienced drone pilot has been drawn to the beach ever since she was a Nipper growing up at North Avoca on the Central Coast.
“I love the dynamic nature of the coastal environment,” says 45-year-old Emma, who lives at Merewether with husband Bruce Rummins and 12-year-old son Zac, a Nipper himself.
“Every time you visit the beach it can be different.
“I also love the community feeling of surf clubs, where so many different people from different backgrounds can come together and feel at home.
“There are so many different options for people to get involved in surf lifesaving, in either big or little ways, and it’s all helping the community.”
Emma’s work comprises paid employment – she is now updating the theory content for drone training for Surf Life Saving NSW and has travelled as far as Tasmania to conduct training courses – as well as plenty of volunteer hours, including rostered patrols, Merewether club and branch involvement, drone training of Hunter lifesavers and drone flying.
Husband Bruce also patrols, and has been a club vice captain and IT coordinator.
The primary focus of Emma’s drone work is shark surveillance. SLS NSW has a contract with the Department of Primary Industries to cover shark monitoring during the spring, summer and autumn school holidays for 34 beaches across NSW including Hawks Nest, Birubi, Nobbys and Redhead beaches in the Hunter.
Emma, who has had to activate shark alarms at Redhead, Nobbys and Birubi, says there was plenty of activity in the water at the end of this past summer. On one occasion at Nobbys Beach she observed three sharks following mullet or salmon bait balls.
Emma says if a shark is within 200 metres of swimmers and surfers, measures two metres or more and is a species that can be considered dangerous, the alarm is raised, so shark identification is an integral part of the drone training.
“When you see a shark, it’s pretty cool,” says Emma, who also gets a thrill spotting seals, turtles and even penguins.
Drones can also be helpful in search and rescue operations and during surf carnivals.
Emma gets great satisfaction out of sharing her skills with others. She teaches local surf lifesavers how to operate the drones over a two-day program.
“It’s a good opportunity to learn a new skill,” Emma says. “To be a drone pilot you don’t even need your Bronze Medallion, so it’s very inclusive.”
Emma says there has been a lot of interest from the Nobbys Surf Life Saving Club, which aims to have one drone pilot rostered on each beach patrol shift.
Emma earned her drone licence while studying Environmental Science at Charles Darwin University, where she has just completed a master’s in Environmental Management, following the completion of a PhD in Environmental Engineering at the University of WA.
Her research focused on the investigation and management of coastal waters, lagoons, wetlands, rivers and estuaries.
As well as post-grad studies, work and volunteering at the surf club, Emma has for years been involved in surf boat rowing at the Merewether club as boat captain, coach and sweep.
And where does Emma imagine her studies and skillset taking her in the future?
“It won’t be a traditional nine to five job,” she says with confidence.
Gina Cranson