During June 2017, SMART drumlines were deployed for totals of 11 and 18 days at Ballina-Lennox Head and Evans Head, respectively. The average number of hours that SMART drumlines were deployed at each location varied daily depending on ocean conditions from 9:04h and 8:45h at Ballina-Lennox Head and Evans Head, respectively. Rough ocean conditions coupled with flooding from the Richmond and Evans Head rivers minimised the number of days that boats could work safely at sea.
On the 5 June, the number of SMART drumlines deployed daily increased from 15 to 20 at Ballina-Lennox and 10 to 15 at Evans Head. This included two extra SMART drumlines at Lennox Head and one at Sharpes Beach, Shelly Beach and South Ballina Beach between Ballina and Lennox Head, four at Airforce Beach and one at Main Beach at Evans Head.
Total catches
A total of 17 target sharks were caught in June; 16 White Sharks, (6 males and 10 females), and one female Bull Shark (Table 1).
Two non-target sharks were caught including one female Greynurse Shark and one unidentified male Whaler Shark (Table 1).
All animals were released alive.
On six occasions alerts had no catch with the bait fully intact when the contractor arrived.
Table 1. The date and time of capture of species and their sizes (total length in m), sex and status during the month of June 2017.
Beach | Date | Time | Species | Size (TL) and sex | Status at release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballina to Lennox Head | |||||
Lennox Head Beach | 29/06/2017 | 10:35 | White Shark | 2.8; Male | Alive |
Sharpes Beach | 24/06/2017 | 13:32 | Bull Shark | 1.9; Female | Alive |
Angels Beach | 23/06/2017 | 15:20 | Whaler - unidentified | 1.0; Male | Alive |
Shelly Beach | 24/06/2017 | 10:45 | White Shark | 2.3; Male | Alive |
South Ballina Beach | 07/06/2017 07:46 | 07:46 | White Shark | 2.6; Female | Alive |
Evans Head | |||||
Airforce Beach | 23/06/2017 | 10:23 | White Shark | 2.2; Female | Alive |
Main Beach | 04/06/2017 09:30 | 09:30 | White Shark | 2.6; Female | Alive |
Shark Bay to Joggly Point | 01/06/2017 14:50 | 14:50 | White Shark | 2.4; Male | Alive |
Table 2. Cumulative total of species caught on SMART Drumlines since December 2016 at Ballina/Lennox Head, and Evans Head
| White Shark | Tiger Shark | Grey Nurse Shark | Bull Shark | Dusky Shark | Whaler - unidentified | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballina to Lennox | Evans Head | Ballina to Lennox | Evans Head | Ballina to Lennox | Evans Head | Ballina to Lennox | Evans Head | Ballina to Lennox | Evans Head | Ballina to Lennox | Evans Head | |
8 Dec – 7 Jan 2017 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 Jan – 7 Feb 2017 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 Feb – 7 Mar 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 Mar – 7 Apr 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 Apr – 7 May 2017 | 7a | 3b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
8 May - 31 May 2017 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1 June - 30 June 2017 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
TOTAL | 12 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
a – 1 individual died
b – 1 individual was found dead on Airforce Beach, Evans Head on May 12 after being tagged and released on May 7