A NSW surf lifesaver pilot demonstrates a drone in action. Photo: SLSNSW Facebook.
Shark-spotting drone technology will be extended in the Illawarra and South Coast to ensure at least one beach in every local government area is covered, each day of the year.
The NSW Government announced on the weekend it would spend $34 million in a major scale-up of drone coverage across beaches in Sydney and along the NSW coast.
Under the expanded program, about 70 beaches will be monitored by drones 365 days of the year, including at least one beach in every coastal local government area.
The additional monitoring by Surf Life Saving NSW will prioritise beaches with high numbers of swimmers, surfers and paddlers including in Sydney and the North Coast, where shark incidents have become more frequent.
The enhanced shark program also includes two SharkSmart listening stations in Sydney harbour to alert swimmers to the presence of tagged sharks.
Surf Life Saving NSW CEO Steve Pearce described the funding as an “incredible investment in community safety and confidence” that would provide world-class safety to NSW coastal users.
“The SLS NSW Shark UAV surveillance program has proven to be an extremely effective component of the NSW Shark Management Program, having this year alone identified and prevented over 2000 sharks interacting with swimmers and surfers, and conducting over 100,000 flights,” Mr Pearce said.
“Even with the greatest technology and expanded presence of drones, we cannot prevent all shark interactions, however this funding will allow the development of a safety program that will give the greatest opportunity to prevent these from occurring.”
Surf Live Saving NSW will lead the drone operations which will be increased during summer and school holidays.
In the South Zone, which includes Wollongong, Kiama, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Eurobodalla and the Bega Valley, every local government area will have at least one beach covered by drone 365 days per year.
A number of other beaches will be covered daily from 1 December to 30 April, daily in spring school holidays and every weekend throughout the year.
The NSW Government will also partner with external providers to trial at least two new artificial intelligence systems over summer and will investigate how to introduce more autonomous drone operations.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said people should be able to feel confident when using beaches.
“While no-one can ever promise no shark interactions, this investment is about putting more eyes in the sky so we can spot sharks earlier and give people a clear heads-up when they’re in the water,” he said.
“We’re backing practical technology that helps keep families, surfers and swimmers safer right across the coast.”
Original Article published by Jen White on Region Illawarra.
