After a spate of shark flak off the coast of New South Wales this year , the office areturning to technologyto examine and help protect beachgoers . So far , there have been 13 shark attack this year alone , one of which was fatal , and up from just three the class before . The site has sparked neat debate on how good to deter the fauna from coming too near to the coast and save citizenry ’s lives . This week ascertain the beginning of run using aerial drone to guide and rails shark .
As part of the AUS $ 16 million ( US $ 11.6 million , £ 7.6 million ) initiativeannounced sooner this yr , the drones will relay footage back to an wheeler dealer , include the GPS location of any shark make out . It is hoped this will give the relevant authorities enough time to discourage and protect those most at risk . In addition to the drones , the state will also be deploying“smart ” drum lines , which will hook the sharks and straightaway alert federal agency to the catch , who can then tag and expel the fauna .
The drones will bet for sharks from the air , sending images back to operators on the seacoast . Brian / Flickr ( CC BY - NC 2.0 )
Drum lines – which are baited hooks strung from blow drums – were planted off the coast of Western Australia in 2014 in an crusade to pluck shark after an growth in attacks on the western glide . The Department of State washeavily criticizedfor this move , with many surfer and environmentalists arguing that wipe out the animal only has a limited effect in reducing the amount of attacks . Furthermore , the drumfish melodic phrase are also indiscriminate , snaring not only the aim sharks , but also turtle and ocean mammals .
It is hope that these newer “ smart ” drum seam will be more humane . “ They ’re like a rag hook that has engineering connect to it so when the come-on is take , a content is sent to our vessels and they ’ll pay heed those line immediately , ” explains Niall Blair , the Minister for Primary Industries , Lands and Water , in astatement . “ They will then tail and free the sharks that are catch on those . So they ’re very different to the traditional membranophone lines which could have sharks sitting on them for days before they ’re check . ”
The detection system will also need the universe of two “ listening place , ” which will be site on the far due north of the seashore to allow the sanction to track the trail shark in real time . Despite New South Wales being the nation ’s most populous DoS , with many people enjoying the ocean throughout the twelvemonth , Blair has refused to look at culling shark and is or else putting his faith in these gamey - tech solutions .
