The mystery of the great white shark being tracked across the Albany region of Australia has been solved.
While the concept of a land shark might seem fascinating, great white sharks have not suddenly evolved the ability to look for prey on dry land, miles from the ocean. Instead a 48-year-old Western Australia man has been using the acoustic tracking tag, which he removed after catching a great white on a recent fishing trip, to trigger at least seven pings throughout the city.
The tag, which is part of a government tracking program designed to give surfers and swimmers advanced warning when a shark is detected in their vicinity, was found on October 1, 2021 by police during a search at a property in Western Australia.
“It leaves an untagged white shark that we know is in waters off Albany. Also, the false alarm causes unnecessary fear to residents and people using the water,” said police officer-in-charge, Senior Sergeant Hugh Letessier.
Western Australia has fitted acoustic receivers on sharks as part of a surveillance program to help swimmers and surfers keep track of their location. Each tag emit unique low-frequency transmissions which are picked up by the thirtyfour receivers placed around Western Australia’s coastlines, providing real time alerts that can be relayed into local lifesaving services like Shark Smart or Surf Life Saving Society.