A five-metre blimp is poised to keep watch over Kiama beachgoers this summer as part of an inventive new shark-spotting strategy.
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The blimp is the centrepiece of Project AIRSHIP (Aerial Inflatable Remote Shark Human Interaction Prevention), the brainchild of Kiama lifeguard and marine scientist Kye Adams, 22.
The airship will carry a camera that will send live images to a lifeguard-monitored laptop at Kiama Surf Club. On Friday it was set aloft over seawater off Surf Beach for the first time. It will begin providing coverage during a six-week trial throughout the summer school holidays. Unlike vast fixed wing and helicopter patrols, the Project AIRSHIP blimp camera will favour a “fixed area approach”.
During testing, lifelike shark cutouts will be submerged off Surf Beach to test the effectiveness of the blimp method. “We’ll publicise whatever rate we can achieve and the general public can decide whether it’s effective,” Mr Adams said. “I don’t want to give people a false sense of security. I want it to provide effective peace of mind.”