Clever Buoys aim to save surfers and sharks
Just a month after the controversial Western Australian shark cull ended a local company has unveiled a product that may make future culls redundant. The Clever Buoy is a non invasive method of detecting sharks. If it's proven to work no sharks or other animals need be destroyed.
Developed by Shark Attack Mitigation Systems the Clever Buoy uses sonar technology to detect shark-sized objects swimming within 60 metres of wherever the buoys are deployed. When a detection is made, the buoy relays a signal via the Optus mobile network to lifeguards on the beach.
The Clever Buoy uses technology that can be programmed to learn the details of what it’s designed to detect. It can differentiate between objects underwater determining the length of an object and its movement through the water. The system has successfully identified sharks during testing phases in Sydney Aquarium and the Abrolhos Islands, off the west coast of Australia.
The Director of Shark Attack Mitigation Systems, Hamish Jolly said, “We wanted to develop a non-invasive shark-detection solution to improve our capacity to detect sharks off beaches which could be a big step in improving beach safety.”
As the testing process continues, the Clever Buoy system will evolve by increasing its knowledge of the difference between a shark’s sonar signature - it's swimming patterns and underwater movements - and that of other sea life.
“It's like face recognition software.” says Hamish Jolly. “We can teach the software to look for the unique characteristics that we see in large sharks swimming.”
Moving beyond danger mitigation, future development of the Clever Buoys will aim to identify between species of shark and thus provide valuable information to scientists to learn more about shark behaviour.
If the R&D process is successful, the aim is for the Clever Buoys to be available for commercial purchase by mid-2015. And it's not just Australia that would benefit. “We want to be able to deploy this anywhere in the world,” Mr Jolly said, adding that Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, where surfing was temporarily banned following a spate of shark deaths, was a possible market.
Comments
Whilst I think this is a fantastic idea and certainly a step in the right direction, are we seriously going to place these buoys at 120m spacings (square grid) across every swimming beach in Australia? How much do these things cost? How big are they and what's the visual amenity obtrusiveness with these things placed at 120m grid spacing along our beaches?
Cost is the biggest factor, the fella from Shark Attack Mitigation Systems has said as much: "At the moment the alternatives are netting, aerial spotting and visual patrols from lifeguards. The buoy is going to have to fit into that cost array in order to be competitive."
If it's proven to be more effective than the aforementioned methods then perhaps govt will subsidise them.
Doubt that aesthetics is gonna come into the equation.
I guess you could create a "watch tower" sort of system around bathing reserves, maybe have a couple centrally located too. As lifeguards sign on each morning they could check for any detections outside of hours, or even have a central watch station manned daily. Could even automate that.
They would pose a risk of being washed in by big swells too, especially if they're being deployed closer to shore.
Would they necessarily be placed in a long line/square grid? Wouldn't they just be installed in a similar way to netting - i.e. in known shark becah-entry/exit points (e.g. channels)? The data from geo-tagging programs surely help in this regard..
Also, what are the implications (if any) for the sonar technology to affect cetaceans or other marine life?
What is the point of just putting a line of them way offshore, similar to netting? That would mean alarms would be going off all the time when the sharks are furtherest away from people but not when there's the possibility of sharks actually close to the beach/humans. Kinda defeats the point of putting these in then IMO.
Yeah not quite at that scale, but maybe 200m out? I suppose even 50m out is kinda far for most swimmers. I dunno, they can swim alongshore for a long time right, but at least you know if one has clearly ventured into an area, if a grid happens to be too expensive.
And you needn't set an alarm off each time something is detected either, someone just needs to monitor it. Several beaches could be monitored remotely.
I can just imagine the litigation if someone got taken by a shark and a lifeguard was just monitoring the shark's position but didn't set off an alarm!!!!
How about a flashing strobe light on the bouy that is activated when a large shark is in the the area as well as a signal sent to the life guard?
Haha yeah ok. I'll make a hypothetical.
Summer, patrolled beaches. 2 lifeguards at Hollowton Tower. SAM operator notifies tower of shark entering their area, by radio. Lifeguards acknowledge, try put eyes on it. If they see it, close the beach. If they don't, within say 30 secs, close beach anyway. If lifeguards don't respond to SAM operator, he has 30secs to set an alarm off. If it is recognised by a central buoy (60m from shore) then an alarm goes off automatically...?
Yep, sounds like a very good solution Oneill.
I would definitely support this solution being placed along Perth and SW beaches instead of drum lines but it's going to turn into a cost effectiveness decision which will be made by the state govt. I can't see sonar being cheap so not getting my hopes up this will be implemented anytime soon, especially seeing they are trying to return the budget to surplus!
Has anyone considered the fact that the buoy might not be in an area that has Optus network reception. If it's anything like the phone reception on my Optus plan the shark will have munched it's way through a whole bunch of backpackers before the alert finally makes it through!!!
They're using satellite links Gary.
I can see the advent of 'smart watches' playing a good role in receiving updates from these buoys, if, of course, we can waterproof them.
I reckon they'd be going off all the time - more than is practically manageable - on the Perth beaches, as there seem to be Tigers everywhere just cruising around not bothering anybody (and getting hauled up on drum lines). Be good if they could isolate them for 4m+ Pointers but I cant see that happening in the near future...
There's no reason why the technology couldn't be refined in the future towards specific animal sizes and behaviours.
Agree Ben, especially if there's a small area of overlap, sure they could come up with some tweak there. Maybe send out a pulse when the object is directly between 2 buoys, and see how the wave is transmitted through it's body and received at the adjacent bouy. Who knows what they'll come up with!
Apparently each shark species has a specific swimming pattern which equates to a human fingerprint so if we can believe what they are saying then they should be able to differentiate between whites and tigers. Anyway not such a bad thing to know there is any sort of shark swimming near you then it's your call to get out or not. I agree with the smartwatch, that's the way this needs to go for it to be really effective but happy to start with the light on top of the buoy and the lifeguard being notified. I'd also be happy with a levy to contribute/cover the cost of this as it has real benefit rather than the bullshit levies they come up with to provide surpluses and keep themselves employed.
"lights on top of buoys"...my only question is how often would this thing be triggered? I can see panic swimmers shitting themselves as soon as a light appears, and everyone rushing out of the water. lol.
as with any new technology....implementation strategy is the key to success.
personally I'd rather not know what's lurking beneath...but that just me.
If the system is as good as they say it is and it can differentiate sizes then it should be programmed to only be set off when the big boys are in town.
In relation to Perth and SW WA there's not many swimmers in the water, especially during winter when there is actually surf (well swell anyway maybe it can't be called surf in Perth) so don't see that being an issue but I can see this maybe causing grief over east. Let them get out, it'll clear the lineup.
That's why I don't dive but I still reckon if there was a bus about to pull up at your stop you'd like to know.
Let's hope they (the pollies) bite the bullet and actually implement this system. If this doesn't please the shark lovers then we are fucked. I bet they'll still find something about the system to whinge about.
Pretty awesome technology if it truly can detect the difference between types of sharks. For those of you saying that it should only put out an alert for big great whites, I think you need to review the data; most shark attacks in Australia are committed by Whalers (including Bull sharks) which are not necessarily all that big but which share a lot of areas with surfers/swimmers, or by maturing great whites which are much smaller than the 4m monsters people are talking about. It's theorised that many of the great white attacks occur because juvenile sharks graduating from small school-fish to larger prey are testing out their surroundings and trying to figure out what the can and can't eat. They'll bite anything from bouys to surfers to assess what is edible or tasty. My point being it's very hard to know how to use the data collected, unless you find a way to let people make their own choices (the smart-watch being an excellent example).
Looks like the NSW Liberal govt, if re-elected in March, will trial this shark deterrent system. Reckon Mike Baird has seen the shark issue cause havoc for the Barnett govt and would like to get on the front foot. Especially after the beach closures in Newcastle.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-state-election-2015/baird-pledge-shark-detecting-sonar-to-protect-beaches-20150124-12x49y.html
yeah I reckon some of the more new eco-friendly barriers (as an alternative to mesh) are the way to go.. no point having sonar detectors that go off every 5 mins just cause there's a 1m hammerhead 200m from the beach..
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/2683742/uow-researcher-welcomes...