Sharks Will Text Lifesavers

An early warning system will be installed in South Australia to help alert lifesavers to the presence of sharks offshore.

In the two-fold system, parts of the seabed along the coastal edge of the capital city Adelaide will be fitted with electronic receivers, while sharks such as bronze whalers will be tagged with transmitters.

When sharks swim within 874 yards (800 meters) of the receiver it will be triggered by the shark's embedded transmitter and send a text message to lifesavers on shore who can then alert swimmers to the menace in the deep. The transmitters will be surgically inserted into the sharks, with the system based on one being used in Western Australia.

Figures show there were 20 shark attacks in Australia in 2009, with about 60 attacks on humans reported worldwide each year.

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