Sharks
Sandbar sharks swim around during a cageless shark dive tour in Haleiwa, Hawaii February 16, 2015. Shark tours are a renowned form of eco-tourism in Hawaii and diving with sharks without a cage is becoming increasingly popular as well. Picture taken February 16, 2015. Reuters

New South Wales swimmers can soon use an app to predict shark attacks. that the app can be used to monitor nearby predators on the beach. The NSW government is holding a shark summit to review new ways and technologies to help improve the safety of Australian beaches.

In an effort to prevent further attacks, the government aims to introduce a shark-tracking app. This will allow the authorities to chart the location of sharks that may harm swimmers, particularly the surfers. The app, developed to track tagged sharks, could be accessed freely by surfers and swimmers on their smartphones or a Web website.

The government has been placing tags on sharks to monitor the creatures’ activities, but there is still no technology used to share details and warn the public instantly. The researchers said that the app would feature a 4G technology, which will be utilised to send shark movements to a base and publish the data online.

The shark summit is set to start on Tuesday, Sept. 29, at the Taronga Zoo, which will examine other technologies such as physical and visual barriers, electric deterrent, sonar, satellite and acoustic technologies. Over 70 shark experts from Australia and other countries will be attending the summit.

Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said in a statement that one of the state government’s top priority is to make beaches “safer.” Hence, Blair noted that authorities will look at new and innovative ways to protect the public. Scientists around the world will be in Sydney to discuss new technologies to be tested in NSW beaches to help the government provide additional, effective measures, he added.

A total of 13 shark attacks have been recorded in NSW to date, a number higher than the previous record in 2014 of three incidents. In August, a surfer and father-of-three, Craig Ison, almost died after a shark attack at the Evans Head. Earlier in 2015, a 41-year-old surfer, Tadashi Nakahara, had been reportedly killed by a shark on the NSW north coast.

With the growing number of shark attacks across Australia, experts found scientific basis on deadly shark activities. Some experts suggest that the changing ocean temperatures could have led the sharks to move to the nearby beaches, while others say it’s the huge number of people entering the water that increases the possibility of shark encounters.

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