West Beach’s shark warning tower. Photo: DPIRD.
Confusion over who is responsible for floating whale carcasses which attract sharks has highlighted the need to upgrade shark warning towers.
For the past five years they have activated alarms for swimmers when any of the sharks tagged by DPIRD are detected in nearby waters.
Esperance Shire Council documents say Twilight Beach tower stopped working in June, while towers at Kelp Bed and West Beach were also approaching the end of their useful lives.
“The supply and installation of the towers was funded by the State Government in 2019 and installation of the final tower completed in early 2020,” this month’s Council agenda says.
“Responsibility for the towers has been poorly defined due to a lack of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), and no legislated mandate for shark response.”
Shire ranger services manager Zoe Sheffield-van Mierlo told Council that DPIRD claimed the towers belonged to the Shire.
“I requested on numerous occasions documentation to verify that,” she said.
“They were not able to provide documentation.”
Shire of Esperance Rangers provide shark response in line with Council’s shark hazard response policy.
However it is not clear who is responsible for maintaining the towers, or paying the bill to the company Specture Connect which operates them.
“Invoices were sent to the Shire for the annual Spectur Connect subscriptions for 2023 and 2024 in February of 2024,” the agenda says.
“In May 2024, the Manager of Ranger and Emergency Services highlighted that the absence of an MOU between local government, DPIRD and supplier, Spectur, was a significant obstacle to the effective management of the towers.
“DPIRD advised that they would review the situation with the towers across all local government areas and other land owners with the aim of providing greater clarity around their management.
“Since installation, Ranger Services have been performing maintenance on an ad hoc basis and troubleshooting when required.”
A DPIRD spokesman said The State Government coordinated the initial purchase, supply and installation of the land-based shark warning systems (towers) across the State.
“Towers are then handed over to the relevant local government authority to manage and maintain,” he said.
“The Shire of Esperance is the owner of the towers at Twilight Beach, Kelp Beds Beach and West Beach and, as the landowner, is responsible for their ongoing maintenance.”
The spokesman said The Shire was working with the DPIRD “regarding the recent technical issues” at Twilight Beach and Kelp Beds Beach.
“Services were restored to the tower at Kelp Beds Beach on Tuesday 15 October,” he said.
“The Twilight Beach tower remains offline and is being assessed.
“The two Shark Monitoring Receivers located off Twilight Beach and one located off Kelp Beds Beach remain operational and continue to provide near real-time notifications of tagged shark detections via the SharkSmart WA app and the SharkSmart website.”
This Tuesday Council is expected to vote on whether to ask the WA Fisheries minister to replace the towers and clearly define who is responsible for them; to pay more than $33,000 to replace them at Shire expense; or to remove the towers once they cease working.
Shire staff have recommended the first option.
Anyone who sees a shark is asked to report it to Water Police immediately on 9442 8600.
