Case study of
#00073 Shark tracking apps and real-time tagged-shark and sighting alert networks
New South Wales, Australia
#00072
Implementer
NSW DPIRD (SharkSmart) with Surf Life Saving NSW
Location
Description
NSW runs the most integrated tagged-shark alert network: roughly 37 acoustic listening stations (at least one in every coastal local government area) detect tagged white, tiger and bull sharks and automatically push an alert to the SharkSmart phone and smartwatch app and a public feed when a tagged shark passes within about 500 m. New stations were installed in Sydney Harbour in 2025–26 alongside targeted bull-shark tagging. The system complements rather than replaces drones, spotters and in-water caution.
Metrics
2Funding
Lessons learned
- Automated tagged-shark alerts give precise, real-time warnings — but only for the small tagged fraction of the population, and only near a station.
- Pairing the station network with active tagging (e.g. bull sharks in Sydney Harbour) directly targets the species behind recent estuarine incident clusters.
- The main hazard is false reassurance: absence of an alert must not be read as absence of sharks.
Documented Jun 26, 2026