Tritech International has deployed its first full-beach shark detection system in collaboration with Shark Mitigation Systems (SMS).
The clever buoy system is currently active at City Beach in Perth, Australia, the company said.
Each clever buoy is solar powered and utilizes a PC running the jointly developed SharkTec software, with three sonars creating a continuous area of coverage.
Richard Talmage , general manager, Shark Mitigation Systems said: “The clever buoy project has been an exciting journey between Shark Mitigation Systems and Tritech International. Over the past few years we have successfully created a unique, commercially viable and non-invasive alternative to shark mitigation methods that will hopefully benefit communities around the world in years to come.”
The system uses Gemini 720is multibeam sonars.
Pauline Jepp , senior software engineer, Tritech, said: “SharkTec was born from SeaTec, our existing marine mammal detection software. Data has been collected by SMS over a number of years and used to adapt SeaTec software to be more focused on sharks. The system was trialed extensively in Bondi Beach, Sydney Harbour, Hawk’s Nest Bay and Jeffrey’s Bay, South Africa before being deployed in Perth.”
“It has been a fantastic experience to work with Shark Mitigation Systems on such a unique project for Tritech. Target detection and tracking is an important extension of sonar technology and Tritech will be continuing to develop these applications to this and other industries.”