Beep beep: Balmoral buoy to buffer beachgoers against bull sharks

A buoy installed off the coast of Balmoral will be able to alert swimmers to the presence of tagged sharks. 

What happened: In January this year, the NSW Government announced an expansion to  shark surveillance, detection and research across the state, including listening stations in Sydney Harbour.

Balmoral and Sow and Pigs Reef (just south of Middle Head) are the preferred locations for the stations. 

• The station at Balmoral will monitor sharks entering and leaving the Middle Harbour, while the Sow and Pigs Reed station will monitor Sydney Harbour.

What do they do: Listening stations scan a radius of 500 metres for target sharks - bulls, whites and tigers. If such a shark is detected, an instant alert is sent to relevant authorities, as well as the SharkSmart app, designed to keep beachgoers aware of recent alerts of sightings.

However, these stations can only detect sharks that have been tagged with an electronic device.

How are they tagged: Target sharks are tagged by drumlines on the NSW coast. Drumlines are devices put out to sea with a mullet on a hook. When a shark takes the bait, crews are alerted, and the shark is captured, tagged and released. 

Thumbnail: Pterantula via Wikimedia, Sharksmart NSW