Something New On Our Shark Tracking Radar
Bitemetrix is a free service keeping you informed on ‘hot areas’ of shark activity in NSW.
Editor’s note: We’ve banged on about sharks a lot recently. We’ve touched on the efficacy of wearables, best practices in worst-case scenarios according to leading experts, and published long-form interviews with casualties of shark interactions. Here is something new on the table as far as ‘shark information’ is concerned, for those that are interested.
In the coastal town of Port Macquarie, on August 25, 2023, surfer Toby Begg experienced a near-fatal shark attack that sent shockwaves through the local community.
According to reports, Begg was pulled so deep underwater that it turned pitch black. Once he eventually surfaced, the White struck him again, forcing Begg to curl into a ball, which saved his life but left his leg absorbing most of the damage. His survival was owed to a doctor and nurse who were on the beach at the time and were able to stabilize his severed femoral artery with a tourniquet.
That traumatic incident was the tipping point for Ronnie Vickery, a fisherman and surfer who had spent years tracking ocean currents and fish movements to service his proclivity for tuna.
“I had been watching Port Macquarie in the lead-up to that attack, and when I saw that morning’s conditions, I thought, ‘That area’s hot today.’ For years I had logged conditions that correlated with where the tuna were. All the way up and down the New South Wales coast. Queensland too. Shark attacks are obviously highly covered media events, so I started logging them and noticing these little correlations. I didn’t think much of it at the start, other than how good it was to be fishing where the fish were.”
The Begg incident, however, was the straw the broke the camel’s back. “That was the tipping point when I realized my logs could be used for communicating shark risk. That’s when I decided it didn’t matter that the product I had wasn’t perfect. I had to get the message out there.”
Witnessing the warning signs leading up to Begg’s incident, Ronnie realized that his insights into the ocean’s patterns might be able to help protect others from similar tragedies. That’s how Bitemetrix was born—a free service designed to make ocean usage safer by providing real-time data and shark risk assessments for surfers, swimmers, and other ocean-goers.
The service works by tracking oceanographic patterns, like upwellings and sea surface temperatures, which are key indicators of shark activity. For Ronnie, Bitemetrix is not about keeping people out of the water; it’s simply about giving them the information they need to make better choices. “How can anybody make an informed decision if they don’t have all the information?” he told Stab.
His goal is simple: to provide surfers and other water users with real-time data based on satellite images, reporting and historical shark incident data, allowing them to assess the risk before hitting the waves. As a former booger, and later a surfer, Ronnie gets it. “If the surf’s pumping, you’re probably going to go for it and run the gauntlet. But if it’s a bad day with a higher shark risk, that extra piece of information could tip someone toward skipping it. And that’s where Bitemetrix comes in.”
Somehow, it feels like less of a tragedy if you are taken after having been blown out of several skin-tingling barrels. Being taken in two foot slop, however, is a bit like going out on the porcelain throne. Unbecoming, to say the least.
Ronnie’s passion for this project is clear, and while Bitemetrix is currently a free service, he’s committed to growing it and expanding its reach beyond the East Coast of Australia. “I’m absolutely wrapped with how the message has been received by surfers and any water user,” he said, adding that his focus now is on improving the service and expanding to places like Western and South Australia.
For Aussies on the East Coast, his account is worth a follow. Those elsewhere, take what you will from it, maybe some inspiration? Ronnie and his partner are a two-man band, not a subsidized agency resourced to the eyeballs. His business model is non-existent apart from selling a few tees + hoods.
For Ronnie, it’s all about empowering people to make informed decisions based on the best available data. “I just want to help people feel safer in the water,” he said. “If they have the information, they can make their own decisions.”
Read more about Bitemetrix here.
