The ocean just installed its newest lifeguard.
For many around the world, Jaws is a fictional tale about a great white shark terrorising a New England summer resort town.
For Australians, that happens almost 25 times a year, when sharks unprovokedly bite Aussies wishing to relish the fact that we are truly ‘girt by sea’.
The most recent occurrence happened on Coogee Beach earlier this month, when a 34-year-old woman was left critically injured after a great white mauled her arm.
In light of the attack, NSW Premier Chris Minns announced an additional $34 million for shark-spotting drones as part of an expanded monitoring program.
The new funding brings the NSW Government’s total Shark Mitigation Program investment to $120 million over the next two years, covering drone surveillance, AI trials and other shark safety measures.
The program aims to fully automate the detection of various marine life at beaches with high visitor numbers, eventually hoping to replace the need for human-controlled crafts.
Seventy-two beaches are expected to have a fleet of drones providing coverage 365 days a year in order to prevent further attacks and other beach-related hazards.
According to Steve Pearce, head of Surf Life Saving NSW, 500,000 drone flights are expected to be logged annually.
The decision was also backed by Humane World for Animals Australia, which hopes to reduce the use of shark nets that are prone to entangling other marine life.
In the lead-up to the new program, year-round surveillance of Sydney’s main beaches will begin on Wednesday, with two trials of the new technology set to take place during summer, when beachgoing is at its peak.
Hopefully, the AI surveillance drone program can help prevent further tragedies, and not end up in the ocean like the drone seen during Vivid this year.
