The Dorsal Fin

The New Zealand Herald is reporting that the West Australian Department of Fisheries is in the process of installing 20 acoustic receivers along the coast of Perth, Australia which will output a signal any time a tagged great white shark travels within 500m of one of the receivers. After a white shark is detected by a receiver, an alert will be sent either via email or text message to notify government and wildlife officials about the shark’s presence. Lifeguards and scientists will also be contacted through this alert system.

A two-year, $400,000 (AUS) study will be performed, using this technology, to track movement of white sharks along the coast of Perth. According to the article, over 70 sharks have already been tagged, and the acoustic receivers will all be installed by February in the seabed around popular beaches. The goal of the program is to better understand white shark behavior around beaches.

The New Zealand Herald loses points for opening the story with a Jaws reference and referring to 100 sharks as being “man-eating.” Other than first paragraph, the story remains fairly objective, though.

Whale sharks: Swimming alongside one of the giants of the oceanic world, from the Press Register at Al.com, reports on the unprecedented numbers of whale sharks being spotted in the northern gulf only a few miles off the coast of Alabama. Ben Raines gives a detailed account of his time in the water with one of the whale sharks in the gulf. The experience lasted about 2 hours. Raines was accompanied by researcher Eric Hoffmayer, who tagged the whale shark during the encounter with a satellite tag to track the shark.

According to the article, Hoffmayer urges people to avoid touching the whale sharks, since it can trigger erratic movement from the whale sharks, which can put anyone around the shark in danger. While whale sharks are plankton feeders, and considered "gentle giants," the sheer size of them can result in injuries even by accidental contact. Hoffmayer encourages divers to keep a safe distance of 5 feet (1.5 meters) when swimming with the sharks. Raines also notes that it's probably a good idea to avoid swimming directly above whale sharks, as well, to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time, in the event of a whale shark surfacing.