Teenager using drone at Australian beach spots Great White Shark mere feet from oblivious swimmers

[douglas_in_philly]

Just saw this story on the news, and didn't see it posted here yet:

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[Skywatcher2001]

WOW!!!

 

[Thomas B]

Interesting review opinions on the video.

 

[Lastrexking]

This is why I stick to swimming pools.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Good on the young fella, would have been a bit if excitement on the beach for him and others.

It's getting quite common now to see Great Whites and other species of shark so close to beaches with the number of drone users.
There would be more examples on YouTube I'm sure, the beaches / coast around Australia are very popular for flying.

SLSA has a very active UAV program for paid and volunteer pilots . . . shark spotting and general patrols

Australian UAV Service - Surf Life Saving NSW

www.surflifesaving.com.au

There are devices on larger drones that can drop self inflating rescue devices to a person in difficulty too.
Australia has had a successful rescue of 2 swimmers off the NSW coast with the Westpac Little Ripper drone system, and plenty of trials on YouTube by surf lifesaving for these on general beaches.

 

[Jaspar]

Great PR for drones in Oz. Only trouble is rules forbidding flying over people

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Great PR for drones in Oz. Only trouble is rules forbidding flying over people

True, though I'm pretty sure the RePL pilots SLSA requires could have special permission to fly over people in some cases with rescues.
Patrolling should not be a big issue, can be done out from the crowds over water looking towards shore.

Lots of great potential for drones in the coming years to assist this and other rescue ops.

 

[pelagic_one]

Thank goodness the video did not have a tragic ending...
...the kind of ending where the young man is escorted off the beach by police.

 

[65Fly]

You only usually hear the bad news about drones and their flyers. Since all the fuss is about the dangers of drones to people, wildlife and property does this one help to redress the balance when human lives are saved?
Lets' have more of these reports in the news and hopefully convince people that drones and their flyers are superheros not villians..

 

[kwolfskill]

Not sure that is a great white, but any shark would probably be a surprise for those swimmers.

Having dived with a number of sharks, out of the many species of them, only four are actually "man eaters", the great white, bull sharks, tiger sharks, and white tip reef sharks. None of the rest of them really want anything to do with people.

In any case, great video!

 

[AnzacJack]

All 4 of those sharks are regulars in our waters

 

[Simmo]

I heard that the shark in the vid was/is a Grey Nurse and not particularily interested in us???
I've swam with black and white tip reef sharks with no issues. You do need to keep an eye out if you have a full spear to retrieve though!

 

[bzmot]

Not sure that is a great white, but any shark would probably be a surprise for those swimmers.

Having dived with a number of sharks, out of the many species of them, only four are actually "man eaters", the great white, bull sharks, tiger sharks, and white tip reef sharks. None of the rest of them really want anything to do with people.

In any case, great video!

The white tip reef sharks are gentle puppies. I believe you meant the oceanic white tips.

 

[Lets Fly]

Thank goodness the video did not have a tragic ending...
...the kind of ending where the young man is escorted off the beach by police.

Or, the kind of ending where the shark devours the swimmer.

 

[dougiefresh27]

Great use of a drone and a support person.
It would be kind of tough though if you are using your phone for the video device. Do you disconnect to make an emergency call or continue to visually monitor the situation?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Or, the kind of ending where the shark devours the swimmer.

They really hate the flavour of humans, just having a taste . . . problem is those teeth and arteries don't mix well, many die when major arteries are damage and the victim bleeds out fast.
Some shark attacks involve very large animals, and sometimes a limb can be ripped off and eaten, but very seldom does devouring take place.
They love seals too much !!

It would be kind of tough though if you are using your phone for the video device. Do you disconnect to make an emergency call or continue to visually monitor the situation?

The young pilot is most likely flying VLOS, and is close enough to raise the alarm verbally.
The news clip shows a demo launching from the beach, it's likely that where most drone pilots would position themselves.