High‑frequency ‘pingers’ trial aims to keep whales away from Queensland shark nets

A five‑week trial of high‑frequency acoustic alarms, known as ‘pingers’, has started on shark‑net installations off Noosa Heads, Queensland. The trial is being run by the University of Queensland together with the Queensland state government and the alarm supplier Future Oceans.

The new pingers emit a higher‑frequency sound that is within the hearing range of whales and dolphins. James Turner of Future Oceans explained that the sound “acoustically illuminates” the nets, prompting the animals to move away.

About 50,000 humpback whales travel past Australia’s east coast each year, yet only around 0.02 % have ever interacted with the nets, according to Shark Control Program operations coordinator Sam Fary.

University of Queensland researchers will watch the nets for ten hours each day throughout the trial. Riona McNamara said the team—including Ashleigh Bourke, Christin Mundell and Oscar Heaselgrave—will record any whale approaches.

Previous lower‑frequency pingers have not reduced entanglements; Dr Olaf Meynecke of Humpbacks and High‑rises noted that roughly 20 whales become trapped in east‑coast nets each year. The higher‑frequency devices are being tested to see whether they can lower that number.

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