SMART Drumline Trial: 4.6-metre Great White Shark Released

A 4.6 meter female great white shark was released as part of the USD 3.84 million SMART drumline trial in Western Australia (WA). The shark was fitted with an acoustic tag before release.

The tag will trigger a monitoring network if it is detected by any of the 30 network receivers along the southern WA coast. WA’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development sharks programme manager, Peter Godfrey said the shark was quite large and did not present much problem to the contractors He said it took an hour for the contractor to tag the shark and move it a further 500m offshore. “It was released in a very good condition and swam away strongly.”

The 15-month SMART drumline trial has gained criticism for the use of Australian salmon as bait. Prior to the Great White’s catch, 40 non-targeted species of sharks, including bronze whalers, tiger sharks, mako, dusky whalers and smooth stingrays had been caught and released. Godfrey expects a spike in white shark activity throughout May as schools of salmon continue to migrate in large numbers between WA’s south coast and Perth. He said more white sharks will be seen in the south-west as the summer weather cools off.