New shark detecting technology alerts lifeguards

A new technology that can detect sharks and send alerts to lifeguards via smartphones is being developed in Australia.

The Clever Buoy, being developed by Australian tech firm Optus, is a floating device anchored to a seabed-located box, that emits sonar signals into the surrounding water.

A processor in the buoy analyses the reflections of those signals, and is able to identify the sonar signature of shark-sized objects in the vicinity.

It also takes note of how such objects propel themselves through the water, to see if they are moving in a shark-like fashion.

A series of the buoys/boxes could be arranged in a row offshore, running parallel to a beach.

Whenever any of them detects a shark, it would send an alert via satellite to the local lifeguard's smartphone, 'Gizmag' reported.

The person would then sound an alarm, telling all swimmers to get out of the water until the shark had moved on.

The Clever Buoy technology has already successfully identified sharks in tests conducted at the Sydney Aquarium and Australia's Abrolhos Islands.