The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the West Australian Department of Fisheries is in the process of installing 20 acoustic receivers along the coast of Perth, Australia which will output a signal any time a tagged great white shark travels within 500m of one of the receivers. After a white shark is detected by a receiver, an alert will be sent either via email or text message to notify government and wildlife officials about the shark’s presence. Lifeguards and scientists will also be contacted through this alert system.
Tagged white sharks will send out an alert when they are within 500m of receivers at West Australia beaches.
A two-year, $400,000 (AUS) study will be performed, using this technology, to track movement of white sharks along the coast of Perth. According to the article, over 70 sharks have already been tagged, and the acoustic receivers will all be installed by February in the seabed around popular beaches. The goal of the program is to better understand white shark behavior around beaches.
The New Zealand Herald loses points for opening the story with a Jaws reference and referring to 100 sharks as being “man-eating.” Other than first paragraph, the story remains fairly objective, though.