Northern Suburbs Branch,17 September 2025
Speaker: Michael Burke, Manager, Shark Response Unit, DPIRD
The WA Shark Hazard Mitigation Strategy is a Western Australian Government program to help protect beach, river and ocean users from shark bite incidents. A shark monitoring network that detects tagged sharks keeps the community informed about shark activity and potential risks.
Key areas of the Shark Response Unit are:
- Awareness: SharkSmart WA App (free), website and education campaigns.
- Monitoring: Shark Notification System, including Shark Monitoring Network and shark tagging program.
- Response: Coordinating, monitoring and managing DPIRD’s operational response to shark incidents and whale carcass management.
Mitigation tools include beach closures, warning systems (towers), and a $200 rebate for personal shark deterrent devices for surfers and divers. Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are responsible for barriers such as beach enclosures and Shark Warning Systems (towers). Beach enclosures are barriers, in some cases constructed of rope with a steel core and are used in WA instead of nets.
Beach enclosures (barriers) are located at Sorrento, Bather’s Beach (Fremantle), Mindarie, Cottesloe, Coogee, East Fremantle (Bicton Baths), Albany, Esperance, Busselton, and Dunsborough.
Surf Life Saving WA (SLSWA) conducts aerial surveillance between Yanchep and Mandurah (including Rottnest), on weekends until September holidays, then every day until April 25th; the SW from Bunbury to Hamelin Bay on weekends and school holidays from September to the end of November, then daily until the end of January, before reverting to weekends until the end of April.
Beach Emergency Numbers (BEN). Over 1800 emergency signs with unique numbers have been erected at access points, harbours, jetties, boat ramps, estuaries, rivers and fishing platforms from the SA border to Karratha, to assist emergency services in locating shark attack victims and other casualties efficiently.
Sharks targeted for tagging are the White Shark, Tiger Shark and Bull Shark.
Three types of tags are used on sharks in WA. Acoustic tags – DPIRD use internal acoustic tags (NSW, SA use external tags), which last 10 years; yellow identification tags on the tip of the dorsal fin can be easily seen and indicate the shark has been tagged; PAT tags (pop-up archival transmitting tags) track movement, depth, and short dives.
Sharks enter a state known as tonic immobility when rolled onto their backs. They stop thrashing about and go into a trance or sleep-like state. Once subdued, the acoustic tag is inserted through a small slit in the belly, which is then stitched closed. The other two tags are then attached to the dorsal fin. Data, including sex, length and a DNA sample, are collected before release.
The Shark Monitoring Network has 40 receivers in the Perth metro area and regional WA. Receivers attached to yellow buoys in oceans and rivers detect a tagged shark when it swims within range, approximately 500m. Information is uploaded in near real time onto the SharkSmart WA App, the SharkSmart website and Twitter X (@slswa). If a receiver is down, the app and X Feed will publish notifications when it is operational again.
Sharks can travel great distances – PAT tag data tracked three White Sharks from Shark Bay to the SA/Vic border and deep into the Southern Ocean. A shark tagged in WA has been detected in South Africa.
Shark behaviour – what brings sharks to a particular location? A whale carcass at Cheynes Beach (Albany) attracted eight White Sharks; in Cockburn Sound, sharks are attracted to Pink Snapper spawning until Feb/March; shark pupping season (summer).
Shark population – 218 White Sharks have been tagged in WA, and NSW have tagged over 1000 White Sharks (externally tagged). DPIRD has tagged five Bull Sharks in WA (3 East Kimberley, 1 Swan River, 1 Collie River). DBCA fish surveys in the Canning River have counted 12 juvenile Bull Sharks, under 1 metre in length, and they are not considered a threat to public safety yet. They have been tagged – these will be switched to public notifications once the sharks reach 1.5 metres.
Public shark sightings should be reported to the Water Police Coordination Centre 9442 8600.
The SharkSmart WA App has a quick call link and provides information about your current location.
Further information is available on www.sharksmart.com.au. Or email sharksmart@dpird.wa.gov.au.
Gia Clarke