NSW tagged as a world leader in shark program
The NSW Government’s shark tagging program is now estimated to be the largest in the world.
Tracking sharks is helping NSW DPI scientists to determine their movement patterns and increase our knowledge of shark behaviour.
Research shows that some White Sharks travel tens of thousands of kilometres, some moving across the Bight to Western Australia, others to Tasmania and New Zealand.
Shark activity
Sharks on the move
Check out the latest video showing the movements of sharks tagged in NSW

The Department of Primary Industries’ shark tagging project is mainly carried out using SMART drumlines.
DPI scientists fit both externally fin-mounted satellite tags and surgically inserted acoustic tags to White and Tiger sharks, and internal acoustic tags to Bull Sharks. This enables scientists to register the natural movements of the sharks to determine the environmental and biological factors affecting their distribution in coastal waters.
Sharks tagged by DPI contractors during SMART drumline trials are fitted with external acoustic and identification tags. All acoustically tagged sharks can then be detected on the network of 21 real-time listening stations on the NSW coast that are located from Tweed Heads to Merimbula. When a shark swims within 500 metres of one of the listening stations, an instant alert is sent to the SharkSmart app and Twitter feed @NSWSharkSmart. Beachgoers can download the app and set it to receive tagged shark alerts at certain times and locations. DPI is collating more than 34,000 alerts from those listening stations to create interactive maps of our tagged sharks.
The table below includes sharks that have been fitted with a satellite tag by our DPI scientists. When the shark breaks the surface of the water for long enough to be received by a passing satellite, the tag 'pings' the shark location via GPS.
It is not unusual for some sharks to not 'ping' for some time. Interestingly, there have been sharks that have travelled thousands of kilometres before we receive a ‘ping’. One shark travelled from NSW to New Zealand before DPI received its location.
Shark tracking
Click on the name of each satellite tagged shark to go to the Wildlife Tracking website for maps and more information.
Name | Species | Life Stage | Release Date | Last Location | Days Transmitted |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shark 1 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-08-26 | 2015-11-13 | 79 |
Shark 10 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-10-14 | 2016-02-18 | 127 |
Shark 103 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-06-05 | 2018-04-29 | 328 |
Shark 105 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-06-06 | 2017-11-27 | 174 |
Shark 106 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-08-17 | 2018-02-26 | 193 |
Shark 11 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-10-15 | 2015-11-20 | 36 |
Shark 13 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-10-17 | 2016-08-02 | 290 |
Shark 14 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-10-19 | 2016-02-11 | 115 |
Shark 15 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-05-31 | 2017-02-28 | 273 |
Shark 16 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-05-31 | 2017-09-23 | 480 |
Shark 160 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-08-17 | 2020-06-01 | 1019 |
Shark 17 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-05-31 | 2017-06-20 | 385 |
Shark 179 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-09-11 | 2019-06-18 | 645 |
Shark 18 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-06-02 | 2016-08-15 | 74 |
Shark 180 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-09-12 | 2018-01-08 | 118 |
Shark 2 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-08-26 | 2015-11-20 | 86 |
Shark 227 | White Shark | Sub Adult | 2017-10-24 | 2018-03-22 | 149 |
Shark 229 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-10-24 | 2018-09-05 | 316 |
Shark 234 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2017-10-28 | 2019-04-18 | 537 |
Shark 25 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2016-07-04 | 2018-09-03 | 791 |
Shark 251 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-11-15 | 2018-01-10 | 56 |
Shark 26 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-07-04 | 2016-10-21 | 109 |
Shark 27 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2016-07-05 | 2017-11-25 | 508 |
Shark 28 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2016-07-05 | 2019-04-20 | 1019 |
Shark 290 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2018-07-27 | 2020-07-16 | 720 |
Shark 3 | White Shark | Sub-Adult | 2015-08-28 | 2016-08-11 | 349 |
Shark 30 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-07-20 | 2017-05-09 | 293 |
Shark 31 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-07-21 | 2016-10-14 | 85 |
Shark 315 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2018-08-29 | 2019-07-30 | 335 |
Shark 33 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-07-22 | 2017-01-03 | 165 |
Shark 34 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-07-27 | 2016-09-11 | 46 |
Shark 341 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2018-12-03 | 2019-06-09 | 188 |
Shark 35 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-08-01 | 2017-09-30 | 425 |
Shark 358 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2019-07-11 | 2021-09-30 | 812 |
Shark 36 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-08-01 | 2018-01-29 | 546 |
Shark 365 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2019-07-18 | 2019-09-04 | 48 |
Shark 37 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-08-02 | 2017-02-11 | 193 |
Shark 38 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-08-09 | 2017-10-28 | 445 |
Shark 39 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-08-09 | 2016-08-13 | 4 |
Shark 4 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-08-30 | 2016-08-26 | 362 |
Shark 40 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-08-09 | 2018-10-31 | 813 |
Shark 41 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2016-08-10 | 2023-10-27 | 2634 |
Shark 42 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-09-06 | 2017-08-16 | 344 |
Shark 44 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-09-06 | 2017-02-22 | 169 |
Shark 45 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-09-07 | 2017-10-11 | 399 |
Shark 47 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-09-07 | 2017-04-19 | 224 |
Shark 48 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-09-27 | 2019-10-19 | 1117 |
Shark 49 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-09-27 | 2017-06-17 | 263 |
Shark 5 | White Shark | Sub-Adult | 2015-09-08 | 2015-11-24 | 77 |
Shark 50 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-01 | 2017-05-21 | 232 |
Shark 51 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-01 | 2017-09-29 | 363 |
Shark 52 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-01 | 2018-08-03 | 671 |
Shark 53 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-02 | 2017-08-26 | 328 |
Shark 54 | White Shark | Sub-adult | 2016-10-04 | 2019-04-10 | 918 |
Shark 55 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-04 | 2017-03-03 | 150 |
Shark 56 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-06 | 2017-04-04 | 180 |
Shark 57 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-08 | 2017-04-08 | 182 |
Shark 58 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-08 | 2017-03-04 | 147 |
Shark 59 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2016-10-08 | 2016-11-20 | 43 |
Shark 6 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-09-12 | 2015-10-17 | 35 |
Shark 7 | White Shark | Sub-Adult | 2015-09-12 | 2015-12-16 | 95 |
Shark 8 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-09-13 | 2016-01-10 | 119 |
Shark 9 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2015-10-13 | 2016-04-23 | 193 |
Shark 96 | White Shark | Juvenile | 2017-05-30 | 2017-10-16 | 139 |
Tiger 29 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2018-01-29 | 2018-07-25 | 177 |
Tiger 32 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2018-02-12 | 2018-07-17 | 155 |
Tiger 33 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2018-02-12 | 2019-02-20 | 373 |
Tiger 69 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2019-03-29 | 2020-01-20 | 297 |
Tiger 7 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2017-05-30 | 2018-03-25 | 299 |
Tiger 74 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2019-05-08 | 2019-06-22 | 45 |
Tiger 84 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2019-05-08 | 2019-12-26 | 232 |
Tiger 85 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2019-09-05 | 2020-07-09 | 308 |
Tiger 88 | Tiger Shark | Sub adult | 2019-07-19 | 2019-11-29 | 133 |
Tiger 93 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2019-07-09 | 2022-02-14 | 951 |
Tiger 96 | Tiger Shark | Juvenile | 2019-07-23 | 2021-01-11 | 538 |
White 359 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2019-07-11 | 2020-05-19 | 313 |
White 366 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2019-07-18 | 2019-11-07 | 112 |
White 367 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2019-07-18 | 2019-08-20 | 33 |
White 375 | White Shark | Sub adult | 2019-07-27 | 2020-12-24 | 516 |
Click on an animal's name for maps and more information.