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The Australian government of New South Wales is taking charge of its citizens’ safety with projects that will protect locals and tourists from shark attacks. Specifically, the Department of Primary Industries which is responsible for agriculture, biosecurity, fisheries, earth resources, among other things, has developed the Shark Management Protection Strategy, their premiere protection strategy for shark interactions, all while keeping these giant creatures and other sea animals safe.
According to the NSW government website, this program is scientifically driven and calls upon researchers, technology gurus, educational institutions, organizations, and individuals to apply for funding in order to stop sharks from attacking along the shores of NSW beaches. Funding will be for the development of personal protective devices like shark deterrents, which include protective wetsuits, and small electrical and magnetic devices designed to protect against sharks. These will be the priority for funding in the 2017-2018 year.
Other areas of funding include shark detection methods, such as sonar technology and shark recognition software. For example, “Clever Buoy” uses new sonar technology coupled with tailored software to detect objects that are as large and similarly shaped to sharks. There had been initial trials at Bondi Beach as well as a controlled aquarium environment.
Other major areas of funding will look into shark biology relevant to interactions with humans and the socio-economics of shark/human interactions. This includes changes in human behavior and perceptions following certain approaches.
The available funding for the Shark Management Strategy lasts five years under the Annual Competitive Grant Program and this is the second year it has been running. The available funding is $200,000 per year, with individual projects not exceeding $50,000. Applicants are encouraged to develop year-long projects but can be granted an extension if promising research is found. During 2016-2017 year there were five successful competitive grants towards prevention of shark attacks. They will be completed on October 31, 2017.
An interesting grant details the study of sharks in their natural habit. Researchers at the University of Sydney will watch a “shark cam” to better understand sharks in nearshore environments. It will also involve attaching specialized cameras to tagged sharks in order to follow them in shallow waters and better our understanding of their interaction with humans in these areas.
In addition, and in line with the 2017-2018 priorities for funding, a project that was deemed successful in the first round of grants was given to Flinders University. Their research will provide follow and test the efficiency of shark deterrents, that are available to the public. They field tested these devices on white sharks in South Australia and their behaviors were recorded to determine if these will really prevent sharks from attacking humans, when wearing one of these devices.
