In July this year, Duncan Leadbitter – the Flame’s resident marine life expert and writer of our regular "Hello Fish" series – reported that the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) had installed a shark listening station off Stanwell Park Beach. We asked the DPI for an update.
On November 1, shortly before 11pm, Stanwell Park’s shark listening station picked up a signal from white shark #641. This was the most recent shark detected off Stanwell Park, as well as the last tagged shark detected 500m from any shoreline in the Illawarra. Which is not to say our waters have been empty since then.
Listening stations only pick up sharks with acoustic tags – of which there are relatively few – and the program is largely for researchers to learn more about shark behaviour. Data from shark beacons like the one off Stanwell Park has been used in the new Sharks exhibition at the Australian Museum and last week NSW SharkSmart began sharing maps of the migratory journeys of individual sharks, following them along the east coast as they swim thousands of kilometres.
“This shark program is the largest and most comprehensive in the world,” said a DPI spokesperson.
“Since 2015, we have tagged 947 white sharks, 302 tiger sharks and 155 bull sharks.”
Stanwell Park’s shark listening station is one of five along the Illawarra and Shoalhaven coastline, with others at Wollongong, Shellharbour, Kiama Surf Beach and Cudmirrah, installed as part of the NSW Government’s $85.6 million Shark Management Program, which began in March this year and will continue until June 2026.
The shark listening stations, also referred to as VR4Gs, are installed at least 500 metres offshore – Duncan estimated Stanwell Park’s to be about 900m offshore. They can detect tagged white sharks, bull sharks, and tiger sharks within a range of about 500m.
At present, there are 37 shark listening stations along the NSW coastline, with at least one installed in every LGA.
Target shark species (white sharks, bull sharks, and tiger sharks) are tagged after being caught by the DPI's SMART (Shark Management Alert in Real Time) drumlines. These are used at 305 locations, from Tweed Heads to Pambula.
“Drumlines have proven to be the most effective tool for catching target sharks, minimising the catch of non-target animals, and maximising the survival of all animals caught on the gear,” said a DPI spokesperson.
“This technology is designed to intercept sharks that come close to shore to help make our beaches safer.”
Once tagged, the listening stations can track each shark’s migration patterns – if they swim within range. If a target shark begins to approach the shore, alerts may be sent out via the SharkSmart app and Twitter.
Sharks have also been monitored locally by Helensburgh-Stanwell Park Surf Life Saving Club, which has used UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles), otherwise known as drones, to check on shark movement near the shoreline since 2019, both as part of the DPI Shark Management Program and as an individual initiative.
There have been no recorded shark bite incidents at or off the shoreline of Stanwell Park, according to Taronga Conservation Society Australia’s historical Australian Shark Incident Database (formerly the Australian Shark Attack File). The dataset, founded by John West in the 1980s, is a record of more than 1000 shark-related fatalities, injuries and non-threatening incidents off Australian beaches obtained through personal and eye-witness accounts, media reports, and government data dating back to 1791.
The Australian Museum recently partnered with the DPI to produce the new Sharks exhibition. You'll find the DPI's shark beacon information in the show, which also features life-size models and explores how a predator that has dominated the oceans for 450 million years is now under threat due to rising temperatures, industrial fishing and oceans choked by pollution.
"Sharks," the show's billing reads, "are in great danger."
Find more information on the NSW Shark Management Program here and to watch NSW SharkSmart’s detailed video graphics, check out their Instagram
