Queensland Government to trial whale monitoring cameras

Remote-controlled cameras will stream footage from eight beaches along the Gold Coast to reduce whale entaglement in shark nets

The Queensland Government will trial the use of remote controlled cameras to monitor and rescue whales from entanglement in shark nets.

Five cameras will be trialled at eight beaches along the Gold Coast, including Main Beach, Surfers Paradise, Miami, Mermaid, Burleigh, Currumbin, Kirra and Coolangatta, chosen due to the large number of passing whales, which is expected to exceed 13,000.

Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Queensland, Tim Mulherin, said the Coastalwatch surfcams stream online footage of popular swimming and surfing beaches and is used by people wanting to check out surf conditions before heading to the beach.

"The system is also used by surf lifesavers to monitor key swimming locations,” he said. "Our release team officers will now also use the cameras to help confirm potential whale entanglements.

"If an entanglement is reported, Fisheries officers will be able to remotely access the cameras and zoom in on the shark net to confirm if a whale is entangled.

"Being able to identify an entanglement immediately means that we can have our response teams on the water faster giving us the best possible chance of successfully releasing the whale unharmed."

He added that in addition to cameras, the government would also trial new whale alarms, or pingers. The alarms have "a longer and louder sound specifically aimed at whales to alert them to the location of shark nets.”

Commenting on the trial, Queensland Shark Control program managers, Tony Ham, said the marine animal release teams, consisting of volunteers from the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol, have undergone both land- and water-based training and are prepared for potential entanglements.

"To further assist our release teams, we rely on the public to report suspected entanglements by contacting the 24-hour Shark Hotline on 1800 806 891," Ham said in a statement.

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