“You never regret a swim.” That’s what I say to myself and others when deciding whether or not to go to the beach in Australia. And once at the beach, whether or not to go into the water.

But now I think that saying is no longer true. You can regret a swim - deeply, if you are attacked by a shark.

The four shark attacks in 48 hours in New South Wales this week have put a state full of water lovers on edge.

To not go in on these beautiful January days, with the water sparkling and inviting and the air warm, feels deeply counterintuitive.

Instead all sorts of bargains and contortions are made on the shore. Would it be alright if I just went in to my knees? Or what about swimming in the middle of the day? How about if the water is clear and it didn’t rain overnight? What if there are other people in the water? What if the area is netted?

It feels as though we’re all teetering on the edge of the shore this week.

As well as the attacks dominating the news, there are the stories of near misses, the Reddit threads about shark hunters along the NSW coast, footage of a 200kg bull shark hanging over the side of a dingy at Camp Cove (it appears to have four rows of teeth!), a viral video of school rowers on the Parramatta River metres away from an apparent bull shark........

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