Clever Buoy Mk 2 Rides the Waves at Bondi

UVS has supported Shark Mitigation Services in the trial of the Clever Buoy shark detection system at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

The system picks up on any animal two metres or longer within a 300-metre radius, sending a signal to lifeguards via an app on their phones. NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair said it was part of his Government’s $16-million shark strategy.

One of the company’s founders, Craig Anderson, said Clever Buoy’s ability to detect sharks had a success rate of at least 90 per cent. “It uses a multi-beam sonar which is a relatively new sonar technology, coupled with some software which is very much like facial recognition technology for marine life,” he said.

Clever Buoy rides a big swell at Bondi Beach at the start of a 30-day trial deployment

UVS Mechatronics Engineer, Josh Berry, works on the integration of electronic systems into the Clever Buoy in the UVS lab at Newcastle, NSW