Five shark listening stations – capable of detecting tagged sharks and alerting the public of their presence – will be installed near South Coast and Illawarra beaches by summer.
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The VR4G listening station buoys will be floated off Kiama, Sussex Inlet, Mollymook, Batemans Bay and Merimbula.
The purpose-built stations work by registering a tagged shark, via an acoustic tag, when it swims within a 500-metre radius of the buoy.
A message is sent to a satellite, which is relayed to people on the shore via a real-time alert on the NSW SharkSmart Twitter account and NSW government’s SharkSmart phone app.
Minister for Primary Industries, Lands and Water Niall Blair said the devices would be in the water this summer.
“When it comes to preventing shark attacks we need to give beachgoers better information, and the fact that listening stations provide real-time information of shark’s movements means people can make informed decisions before getting in to the water,” Mr Blair said.
The exact buoy locations are subject to coastal engineering and consultation with the regions’ surf life saving clubs.
The stations are part of the NSW government’s $16 million Shark Management Strategy.
“Listening stations will now be located up and down the state’s coastline and are just one of the emerging technologies we are using to better detect and deter sharks on the NSW coast,” he said.
Ten stations are already in the water between Tweed and Forster, on the North Coast.
A further five will be installed at Crescent Head, Old Bar, Hawks Nest, Redhead and Bondi.
To date, 29 sharks and 88 bull sharks have been tagged in a collaborative effort between the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ shark biologists and the CSIRO.