Would you believe that sharks on western Australia shore now send messages by Twitter to warn surfers and swimmers of their approaching the coast when about a kilometer away ?? Through science and information technology this has come to pass. Well, this is possible through affixing transmitters to more than 320 sharks, including great whites, which continuously monitor sharks movement along the beaches. People looking for fun on beach can make a decision if it is shark safe to enter into water or not. The transmitter trigers an alert to the shore based computer which in turn tags, twitter sized messages through Twitter and Facebook and read off on the coast by the beach crowds.
on the shark
There was a pilot project used to save peoples lives at a far cheaper but surer method. The Twit will be passed on to the control room and those on the beach. The accuracy of the location, direction of approach size and speed of the shark will be constantly tracked. The initial Twit will log on to “Life saving Western Australia account” This system is much faster plus cheaper than the traditional method of Radio or Newspaper. No surfer or swimmer can then say that he was not warned or informed of the impeding danger. This method has replaced coastal boats and the helicopters using surveillance techniques. Due to death of famous surfer Chris Boyd this method has got a boost to be used for times to come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-7oLP5pBU4
One Response
Seems like it would give swimmers a false sense of security. Not every shark is tagged, and untagged sharks on the beach would not deliver a warning. Great idea though.