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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Environment
Petra Stock

Twice as effective as nets: shark-spotting drones to become ‘permanent fixture’ on Queensland beaches

Aerial view of a shark swimming close to shoreline
During the trial there were 676 shark sightings by drones, significantly higher than the 284 caught in adjacent nets. Photograph: Dynamik Images/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Queensland will roll out shark-spotting drones to more beaches, after a major study found drones detected more than double the number of sharks caught in adjacent nets.

But while drones would become a “permanent fixture” of the state’s shark-control operations, the Department of Primary Industries said Queensland would continue to rely on “traditional measures like nets and drum lines”, despite evidence of their deadly impact on dolphins, whales, turtles and dugongs.

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