Surfing is a Little Safer in Australia Thanks to GPS Tracking

Shark attacks are very rare, but they do happen. Surfers, in particular, are very vulnerable to shark attacks, because they spend a lot of time in the water. Australia is one of the most popular surfing destinations on the planet. Some areas of the Australian coast boast record-breaking waves, which attract surfers from across the world. Like California and Hawaii, surfing is commonplace in Australia because of the great weather and swell.

The northern and central coasts of California and the western coasts of Western Australia (WA) are exceptionally dangerous surf spots, because the water is home to one of the ocean’s deadliest creatures: the great white shark. Sharks generate a lot of fear in most people. Movies like Jaws and week-long specials on Animal Planet capture the danger posed by sharks, but generally, there is a lot of misconceptions about these animals.

In the ocean surrounding Australia, there are 160 different species of shark. Of all of those, only three species are considered a risk to human safety. The white shark, tiger shark and bull shark are the only species in the region known for posing a serious threat to humans. A couple other sharks, like the hammerhead shark, will occasionally bite people, but these bites are not life-threatening.

Surf Life Saving Western Australia is part of a new effort to make the waters safer for people and sharks, alike. Using GPS tracking devices attached to sharks in the region, the organization uses their Twitter account @SLSWA to alert the public of sharks close to the shore. Surfers in Western Australia can follow @SLSWA on Twitter, and receive real-time updates of shark sightings and location information of predators in the water.

Here is an example of a recent tweet: “Fisheries advise: White Shark 2.5 – 3m, had been sighted at Rottnest 500m offshore rom Pt Clune. Sighting @ 1535 Reported @ 1610.”

The Department of Fisheries Western Australia teamed up with Surf Life Saving Western Australia to “develop new strategies for beach goers and users of the aquatic environment on the risks associated with sharks.” They tagged more than 320 sharks in the area. When a tagged shark approaches the shore, a tweet is sent out with the sharks location, breed and size.

“These detection and WAs extensive receiver network are contributing to important research to help the government to better understand the movements of white sharks through WA waters, as well as playing a major public safety role,” explained Rory McAuley, principal research scientist Department of Fisheries. “The battery life of internal acoustic tags is up to 10 years so the scientific data that may be collected from this shark is unprecedented.”

The primary goal of the Twitter program is to make the beaches of Western Australia safer for the public. On a larger scale, the tracking information gathered by the sharks will provide wildlife researchers with a whole new understanding of sharks, and how the interact with the shore and their natural habitat.

Sharks have a bad reputation. They’re commonly thought of as “man-eaters.” They are not as cute as sea lions or otters or dolphins, and so protecting them has passed under the radar for too long. They have been massively over-fished with a devastating affect on the underwater ecosystem. The major factor in the over-fishing of sharks is the Chinese tradition of serving shark-fin soup at special occasions, like weddings. With more information available about sharks, hopefully this public opinion can be shifted and sharks will be recognized as a vital part of the environment.

Every surfer worth his or her salt knows that it is a risk every time you enter the water. The ocean is highly unpredictable and humans are land-species. Our evolutionary ancestors may have come from the ocean, but human beings are easy prey for ocean-dwelling predators. When we think of shark attacks, we think of a fin circling us before a sudden bite. The reality is a lot more scary. Great white sharks attack from below. You might see a fin. You might not see anything as the shark charges from the depths.

I come from California and have close family members who surf almost daily. Although shark attacks are very rare, they do happen. My father lost a fellow-surfer friend to a great white shark attack years ago, and named by brother after the victim and taught him to surf. Despite the loss, my father has great respect for sharks and never lost his love for surfing and the ocean. This writer thinks that tracking sharks with GPS technology is a great idea. It not only protects our surfers, but also helps the public better understand sharks so we can peacefully co-exist.

Surfing is a Little Safer in Australia Thanks to GPS Tracking