Smart technology helps protect beaches from sharks

(NewsNation) — Smart technology is helping lifeguards monitor sharks as they approach beaches in an effort to help prevent encounters between beach-goers and sharks.

Along the coast of Southern California, the odds are always high that a great white shark is right offshore.

NewsNation traveled with the Shark Lab team from Cal State Long Beach, encountering a shark less than an hour from heading out.

The team spotted several large sharks, including an 11-foot-long great white just a hundred yards offshore near Santa Barbara, California.

The shark lab team moved to tag the shark, attaching a transmitter to the animal’s dorsal fin, adding it to the more than 235 other sharks being tracked by researchers.

The transmitters are mainly used for scientific research, tracking migration patterns, identifying habitats and assessing the effectiveness of marine conservation efforts.

But the smart tags can also alert lifeguards of shark activity if they are picked up by beacons all along the Southern California coast.

Conservation efforts have worked when it comes to replenishing the shark population. Combined with warmer weather prompting more people to venture into the ocean, it has increased the chances of accidental encounters between sharks and people.

Research has already confirmed that sharks don’t purposely go after humans, said Dr. Chris Lowe, director of the shark lab.

“Humans clearly are not on the sharks’ menu. Because if we were, then all of these populated beaches would be a Costco for sharks,” he said.

The warmer weather driving people to the shore is also affecting sharks, Lowe said, because sharks’ metabolisms react to the temperature of the water. Colder water means colder body temperature for sharks, with lower metabolisms, slower movements and a smaller appetite

“As the water warms up, their metabolisms speed up, they eat more and their metabolisms go up,” Lowe said. “So what we can expect with climate change, sharks are going to get hungry, they’re going to eat more food.”

That menu, though, doesn’t include people. Sharks typically eat fish and other marine animals like squid, seals and sea lions.

When shark attacks on humans happen, scientists believe it is often the case of the person being mistaken for prey, a shark defending itself or even simply being curious.

Lowe says that wherever people are, the safest option is always to venture into the ocean with a group, in an area that is guarded and monitored for unusual or extraordinary shark activity.

He doesn’t expect unprovoked attacks to increase beyond last year’s international total of 69, a number far smaller than the number of people stung by stingrays each year.