Apps And Drones Against Sharks: Groups Band Together To Create Anti-Shark Solutions In East Coast [VIDEO]
A combination new technology and old-school approaches are being utilized in the East Coast after recent studies have determined that the shark population in the area has dramatically increased over the past few years. Apart from the usual flags and pamphlets, officials are also looking into using a dedicated smartphone app and drones in order to help warn beachgoers about sharks in the area's beaches.
Take Cape Cod, Mass. for example. Due to the recent spike in shark population, officials have begun placing flags and other warning signs of beaches about the presence of sharks in the area. A nonprofit organization is also developing a smartphone app that is designed to track sharks that are present in the country's entire seaboard.
The Chatham-based Atlantic Great White Conservancy group has also launched a smartphone app designed for beachgoers from Canada to Florida. The app tracks the movements of tagged Great White Sharks in the area and enables beachgoers to report shark sightings in real time.
Apart from dedicated smartphone apps, a group of researchers from Duke University and the University of North Carolina is coming up with a different, yet equally high-tech solution to the East Coast's shark problem. Currently, the researchers are testing a number of shark-seeking drones that are designed to be used by beach lifeguards while on duty.
Gregory Skomal, a Massachusetts state biologist, as well as his team, were recently able to track 141 Great White Sharks in the area this year. Last year, Skomal and his team were only able to identify 80 Great Whites in the area.
"The days of burying our heads in the sand and saying, 'What sharks? We don't have sharks here' are over. It's time to move past that and be forthright and honest with the public about the presence of these animals," he said.
Researchers believe that the surge in shark population in the East Coast is partly due to the increasing population of seals, which are the sharks' favorite food. In Cape Cod, for one, the banning of seal hunting back in 1972 has drastically increased the population of the sea mammals in the area, attracting numerous sharks to take a sample of the area's delicacy.
Apart from Great White Sharks, Mako Sharks and Blue Sharks have also been spotted in the East Coast lately.
