Do you really wanna know what lurks under the bed?
In what could be argued to be an existential fallacy, an Australian drone operator has fitted an alarm to his aircraft to warn surfers when he spots nearby sharks.
“I had to take some kind of initiative because of the amount of shark sightings,” Adam Fitzroy told the Port Macquarie News. “It’s not my responsibility to patrol beaches but if I do see some kind of imminent danger I want to be able to alert people.”
Now, drones bug the shit out of me.
They drag their butts through the sky like giant Mesozoic mosquitoes, stalking lineups uninvited and sucking the ambience out of any peaceful surf scene.
And they can make problems where there weren’t any, like Mr Fitzroy has done here.
Were the surfers in his video actually at risk?
Or was he just capturing what would be an otherwise unnoticed, every day occurrence?
I live just south of the largest White shark nursery in Australia. Conservative estimates put the number of juveniles in my area at around 250. You can actually check out one of the local beaches on on Google maps and spot the silhouette of a shark in the satellite image.
Chuck in bulls, tigers, bronzers. They’re out there, lurking. Yeah, the likelihood of an attack for me is still low. Juvie Whites are supposedly docile. My local area is netted.
Only a couple of serious attacks in the last hundred years.
But go looking for them and you will find them. Do I need to know every time I’m in da bite zone of one of the fuckers?
Hell, nah. I’d probably never surf again.
So my initial reaction is to call this guy a Chicken Little, screaming at shadows only he can see and shattering the cognitive dissonance we employ every time we surf.
I want to say this is another example of technology overstepping its boundaries.
We don’t need this level of vigilante surveillance in our lives. The hand of fate shall not be bowed to.
But here’s the rub, I don’t live on the north coast where this shit is actually life or death.
I don’t know what it’s like to see somebody attacked.
Or to not be able to surf certain beaches for months at a time.
Or to have to truly consider what it would feel like to be consumed alive, cold black eyes staring at me blankly while I spend the final moments of my life gasping, grasping, succumbing to the ultimate agony.
What if this drone alarm actually worked, and the guy saved somebody from getting the chomp?
Surely it would all be worth it?
Could it actually work? Should it work?
Cute guy with genuine questions, seeking answers.
(Editor’s note: Here’s a happy White near happy children, peacefully co-existing etc.)
Which beach on Gmaps SA? It’s not Burwood is it? Every single surf there I feel watched..
Hawks Nest… basically still local haha.
Yes always been a bit jumpy at Burwood after that dolphin got bit in half few years back by that big white that was hanging around.
Though ironically, if you’re feeling watched at Burwood it may actually be by me, through my kitchen window, with my binoculars.
Ahh the nest, will suss. Right in the thick of the nursery!
Never felt it til after the summer of fear a few ago, and more specifically after the “warning dolphin” half washed in.
Here I was thinking it was the old nudists that were doing all the lookyloo’n haha
Don’t tell me you’re all cashed-up near the water tower? Or maybe that’s you with the massive white crib on the cliff at Whitebridge?
No fuck those rich arseholes (although I’m sure they’re all lovely).
I actually just live at the shit factory.
Mmmm. Not sure whether to take you literally or only semi-geographically.
I’m not far at all from the shit-factory-adjacent educational facility, and walk down to embarrass myself ‘mongst the crashing white horses of the fair glen.
I actually know a guy up Hickson, who’s a gem of a fella.
Oh we close!
Sshh don’t tell Tom!
He’ll get jealous!
That’s just me trying to vibe you out.
Didn’t know you were a local there.
Haven’t been out there in a while, last time it was solo!!
From Newcastle but am down around Catho way.
I surfed there once. What a bummer about that development.
It’s so shit. Basically just as crowded as town.
Just waiting for inevitable drownings of new jacks at moonie, maybe that’ll scare a few off!
Mostly see Burwood from the bike track now.
Careful you don’t contract a case of ‘Wilson’s Shoulder’ in all your whizzing about up and down the track.
My Hurley contract could disappear! Can’t stop jumping though, way too much fun!
more drones please !
everytime I paddle out my drone see’s massive GWS everywhere , which a s a public service I let everyone know , that if I am in the water….it’s not safe…..my shark drone is coming soon!
Let’s do it, we can get you an app too.
in vic? I thought sightings were not as common as other states
Maybe there’s a drone out there that can help me hit the fucking full screen button in the split second its available to thumb punch. That little fucker lurking right under the video title.
Put two fingers on the screen and spread em. You should be good to go.
Wow thank you so much! This is literally life changing
No prob.
There’s def drone-caused sharkmania in California recently. Which is ridiculous (unless you are a Surf Beach or Marina local), considering the sheer number of people surfing every day and the relative scarcity of attacks, driving to the beach is way more dangerous…
That is a beautiful beast. It poked through that shorebreak wave so gracefully.
TRD should consider changing their name
Air rifle.
#nastysplashing
I am with you SA. Being oblivious is best. And I work in risk. Go figure. Last year I happened to be driving past LT’s little secret spot. I had a lovely session in the morning at first light with hardly a sole in the water. When I got out and was getting changed a bloke asked me what it was like – I said it was great with only 8 out. He asked me if I knew why – I said nope….he said that 2 sharks had been circling the shark buoy all morning. I choose not to download that App for my phone. And I am not far from you.
that shark has really good eyesight.. fucker saw those littles from 100 yards through water, that is pretty crazy, looks like he was going to check them out to realize they were not food.
They do have good eyesight apparently, but not that good, it would have picked up the vibrations of splashing /swimming around before it saw them. That’s why I hate surfing with lids or ‘kickers’ who insist on flapping their legs to catch waves. The vibrations mimic a dying fish. Their ampullae of lorenzini sensors also react to the shark shield current, which is a different wave length to that of a fish in distress.
What about dogs ? the old wives tale was that sharks were attracted by the odour of dogs ?
. I read an article in Surfers Journal by Greenough describing how he acted in three different cases while being stalked / in the near vicinity of rather large sharks , slowing down his Paddling and kicking rate in attempt to avoid being on the shark’s menu ….
Women menstruating is another point of contention. (Old wives tale) But I think their sense of smell is nothing compared to their electro sensors. Wiki told me they can sense a current of 1 in 100,000,000. Or I read something like equivalent of a 1.5volt battery from 10km away.
A dog on a local beach was nearly taken by a shark last year, apparently it was in shallow water and narrowly escaped.
When an animal moves muscles it produces a voltage and sand sharks find buried fish which are stationary.
Before I bought my shark shield I read quite a bit, my theory on the attack I narrowly missed seeing was that the shark, a big GW felt threatened by the surfer. It was in a heightened state due to salmon being around, water clarity was gin clear.
Victim was sitting alone about 20-30m further out. Shark came from below, took the entire leg off cleanly and then disappeared. So it was not hungry. It s a bit of a mystery why seemingly intelligent animals have been found with drums inside their stomachs. They do exploratory bites and I think they might also do the “fuck off bite, you’re in my territory “
Either way it doesn’t end well.
so you feel the shark shield works from your research? what about all the evidence in tests that show it getting drilled?https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.go…
states the shield actually works, the SharkPOD… but they went out of business?
I have the Rpela model which failed dismally in the university tests. Since then they have rejigger and changed the frequency to a longer range pulse, modulation.. The one that did work, Sharkshield freedom, tailpad one, was effective 60% of the time in deterring feeding sharks, which was deemed a pass. Keep in mind that a slurry of Tuna, blood offal, was presented to the Great Whites along with the devices. And these were 4m plus fish, agitated to feed.
So 6 out of the 10 charges a shark made at the food/ device the shark turned away.
In a surfing situation, without the stimulus of fresh fish in the water I would say that the unpleasantness of the voltage to a sharks most sensitive organ, would be enough to deter them. The devices have a 6m radius.
The Rpela was tested at St Leu,
If I thought I was in mortal danger every time I went surfing, I would use one. But much higher chance of being killed in a car accident
they should test in Reunion. with just a board and a dummy, no chum.
They did, it was a story on our local current news program. Reunion surfers were using Rpela at St Leu, during the beaches closed period when their local junior champ got taken. I think local surfers were defying authorities who had banned surfing [sharks] as it was damaging their tourism. The sharks were very angry bull sharks which had seemingly increased in population.
Watching St Leu going off from the beach with no one out would not be an option. Locals installed the devices in their boards and felt 100% comfortable surfing again. The developer, Dave, also surfed with them, no one was bumped and no encounters. That was good enough for me and i still think it is the case in Reunion today. I will google now though out of interest.
May 2019
28 y/o surfer Kim Mahbouli, from Saint Denis, Paris, was attacked near
Reunion Island on a banned stretch of surf and was pronounced dead after
being brought back to the port of Saint-Leu. Surfing in the area is
heavily restricted due to a rise in shark attacks, and authorities
reportedly issued warnings to steer clear of the water earlier that
morning. Local officials said Mahbouli was with 3 friends, who were all
wearing shark-repelling devices on their ankles, who tried but weren’t
able to get him to land. Mahbouli was not wearing a repelling device.
The sharks are still there it seems, as you would expect.
post what you find. we don’t have anything of worry at the moment in my waters but there are loads of whites 40 miles away as the crow flies and they occasionally patrol our areas unnoticed with a tag beeping here and there.
i will, it is an interesting subject shark behaviour, and is often discussed here [WA] in the carparks, as they say be aware but not afraid.
After i had been to Ballina a few times on surfing holidays, and despite the constant media debates, for surfers in the water it was business as usual. And a calm approach to it all is better for all involved. My fisheries BIL was aware but unconcerned, he regularly spoke to commercial fisherman who were out there every day. And i think the fishos know shark behaviour and numbers better than the ‘experts’. I think he viewed my shark shield as an over reaction, and over time i have been more inclined to follow his and Ballina surfers philosophy.
If i lived in Reunion i think i would just stop surfing. Or go somewhee else.
I think GG’s point was, paddle directly for them, duck dive into them…. having no known predators, you force the shark to make a decision for a situation they don’t understand, them being the “prey”…. something like that.
Not sure the if this technology is telling us or the indigenous population anything new ?
Tuncurry is an Aboriginal word ( apologies in advance if my source is incorrect ) meaning “plenty fish”……plenty big fish too
Yeah there’s plenty of sea life on the bar there. Which is supposedly a world class wave on its day but I have never seen it. Had some cracking surfs on the wall beachie where Sharky is in th video though.
A bloke got bitten bad a couple beaches north of Tunners a few years back, and was actually paddling a surf ski. Thing must have been massive.
Cute, also GSOH
a great service to the community. looking forward to slipping him $20 to clear the line up for me next time there is fun waves.
If it saves one death its worth it.
Really no one can make you paddle in if you hear the alarm.
Too much information overload, drones, spotters, shark watch, SLSA twittering, shark detection buoys.
It just creates a white noise of misinformation. Are we constantly in danger of being chomped? If you checked all the shark info being fed you would believe it is more than likely to happen.
I was surfing the same break when we had a fatality 2 years ago in WA, Fortunately i had left 1 hour before the attack. A lot of my surfing friends helped paddle him in minus his leg which was still attached to his board via legrope. I am thankful i wasnt there to see it.
The waves were pumping that day, no wind, clear water and salmon were being caught a few k’s away we later found out.
I do not believe any of the current shark mitigation policies in place now are effective apart from the catch and release drumline trial and netting. My brother in law lives in Ballina and works in fisheries, last time i went over for a surf the big orange buoys were in full swing. There seemed to be a sense of calmness amongst the surfing population, at least compared to where i had come from. I had purchased a shark shield for my board, not one other surfer i had seen on that stretch from Ballina to Byron had one.
I now do not use one, mostly because i hate being zapped, as its a constant reminder of the ‘ever present’ danger. When your times up……..
Surfads could be the next big thing.
Future host of The Voice
I’m tipping.
Did this make you proud Bex?
https://twitter.com/SeaEagl…
thatd cure whatever ails ya!
measuring rings over here.
beers pending?