Cape Town uses drones to spot sharks

26 Dec, 2017

Shark spotters embrace technology to protect Cape Town swimmers.

Cape Town lifeguards are using state-of-the-art drones to monitor the movement of potentially lethal great white sharks and their proximity to swimmers along the city's beaches during the current summer season.
The technology is proving effective, particularly from long-range distances, but it has not replaced the work of land-based shark spotters who are dotted around the coast in strategic viewing points.
There are four permanent programmes at Muizenberg, St James-Kalk Bay, Fish Hoek and Noordhoek; and between October and April, at busy times like weekends and holidays, shark spotters operate at Clovelly and Glencairn beaches.
In 2016 Cape Town launched the Shark Spotters app, designed to warn swimmers and surfers of the presence of sharks and to make beach-goers "more shark smart."