Two new shark-tracking buoys have been installed off the Hunter's coastline, with an existing device detecting high activity in the region's waters.
Also knows as "listening buoys", the devices are part of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) SharkSmart program and are capable of detecting sharks previously tagged by the DPI within a 500 metre radius.
The buoys are employed in tandem with the DPI's drum line system. When sharks are captured by a drum line - a hook with bait attached which is connected to an anchored buoy and a GPS - they are then tagged and released by contractors.
The DPI told the Newcastle Herald 838 white sharks, 288 tigers sharks and 155 bull sharks have been tagged as part of the program to date.
The buoy at Lake Macquarie, installed in 2016 around 500 metres off Redhead beach, is one of 50 along the NSW coast.
According to the publicly available SharkSmart App, there were 10 white sharks detected by the Redhead buoy in July, six of which came in the last week. The frequency of detection caused council lifeguards, who currently are not patrolling the beach, to install shark activity warning signs for the public.
"We are just trying to stay proactive and keep the shark detections as transparent as possible for the public," team leader with Lake Macquarie council's beach lifeguards Lucas Samways said.
"We haven't had any sighting reported that I'm aware of so at the moment the sharks are just hanging around about half a kilometre off the beach."
Last month, the government announced listening stations had also been installed at Birubi and Newcastle beaches which have detected eight and three sharks respectively since July 19.
Six of the sharks detected at Birubi were also picked up by the Redhead buoy.
A DPI spokesperson said white sharks tend to move northward along the coastline as waters cool in early winter, with juveniles following from September.
