NELSON Bay resident and Shark bite victim Lisa Mondy, recently shared with our readers her thoughts on Shark Conservation.

This week the NSW State Government began rushing through plans to introduce a new drum line system that will be run out across the east coast of Australia over the coming weeks.

Michael Brown, CEO and Founder of Surfwatch Australia explains that the drum line systems primary goal is designed to kill.

“Drum lines and shark nets suffocate the animal, taking mammals 10 -15 mins to die, other animals can take up to 1/2 hour or longer to die,” Michael Brown told News Of The Area.

These so called “smart drum lines” are designed to notify the authorities once the shark is hooked and then the shark would be relocated out to sea.

Unfortunately sharks need to be continually moving so many sharks will die on these drum lines before anybody gets to them.

“Sharks are migratory, so my point it is to kill a shark in one place to protect swimmers in that area, when the shark will move to another area the next day, is nothing more than a knee jerk barbaric reaction designed so the government is seen to be seen doing something,” Michael Brown told News Of The Area.

“Ignorance and fear labels sharks as mindless killers and nothing could be further from the truth, sharks are drawn into swimming areas by the presence of food,” said Mr Brown.

Large sharks have a diet primarily consisting of mammals and tend to follow seals and whales.

Smaller sharks up to 3m follow the thousands of baitfish schools moving along the Australian coastline.

Adopting a system that tracks the movement of the sharks food source will allow a compilation of an unprecedented database that will accurately predict when, where and what time the public would be at risk of encountering a feeding shark.

New aerial drone technology will allow the individual beaches the opportunity to visually inspect the waters and the information gathered from multiple drones will paint a clear picture of shark activity and allow accurate shark predicting.

“Putting it a little clearer, if there are no fish, no whales or seals in the area the chances of encountering a shark are virtually zero,” Michael Brown added.

It’s time for this kind of technology to be introduced all over Australia.

 

By Jewell DRURY