The City of Cape Town has launched an app that will alert beach goers and lifeguards to any sharks spotted along the city’s beaches this summer.
Although not very prevalent, as only 25 shark attacks have been recorded in the Cape Peninsula since 1960, it’s still very important for swimmers to be on alert, in case anything happens.
Shark Spotters provides current and accurate, real-time shark safety information, updated by volunteers who work for an organisation if the same name, on swimmers’ smartphones so they can make informed decisions about shark risks, even before arriving at the beach.
Included in the info provided on the app is updates on which flags are currently flying across all beaches.
The flags fly for various reasons, including:
- poor spotting conditions due to cloud cover
- shark sightings
- an indication of water temperature
- the lunar phase
- an indication of whether the shark exclusion barrier in Fish Hoek has been deployed or not
Additional info such as weather conditions, marine animal activity in the area (such as whales, seals, dolphins, sunfish etc.), the details of amenities on the beaches, as well as short surf videos of isolated surf spots, can also be found on Shark Spotters.
“We are very grateful to all individuals and organisations who contributed to making the app a reality and are very excited to be able to be a key partner in this initiative which offers such a valuable service to the community. Shark Spotters is an invaluable partner doing some great work and we are proud to be affiliated with this non-profit organisation,” MMC for Energy, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Johan van der Merwe, said in a statement.
Shark Spotters is available for download for free from Google Play and iTunes.
