Australian shark detection program expanded

An Australian state government on Wednesday has expanded its shark monitoring program in time for the summer beach season following a deadly year of attacks.

Following a spate of deadly attacks in 2015, the New South Wales state government implemented at 16 million Australian dollar (12 million U.S. dollar) program to protect beachgoers along the coastline, including expanded aerial surveillance, a shark meshing program and 'listening stations' using 4G technology to track tagged sharks along the northern coastline.

On Wednesday that program was expanded the state's most popular beaches along the southern coastline after two off-duty nurses saved the life of a 22-year-old Aussie surfer after he was mauled by a great white in March.

"When it comes to preventing shark attacks, we need to give beachgoers better information, and the fact hat listening stations provide real-time information of shark movements, means people can make informed decisions before getting into the water," NSW Minister for Primary Industries Niall Blair said in a statement.

"Listening stations will now be located up and down the state's coastline and are just one of the emerging technologies we are using to better detect and deter sharks on the NSW Coast."

The information picked up by the listening stations will be passed onto the public automatically via social media and the government's own shark smart app, Blair said.

The announcement comes after a white shark was spotted cruising through the waters in Ballina, a coastal town in northern NSW early Wednesday morning. It is not known if it is the same shark that knocked two surfers off their boards in a nearby location on Tuesday.

The NSW state government has already tagged 88 bull sharks and 29 great white sharks as part of the program, but the listening stations that can detect a shark up to 500 meters away will also pick up animals tagged in other programs, Blair said. Endit