Sydney, Jan 18 (AFP) A pair of Australian swimmers todaybecame the first people to be rescued in the ocean by a dronewhen the aerial lifesaver dropped a safety device todistressed teens caught in rough seas.
Australia is leading the use of the technology in surflifesaving, with dozens of drones being trialled on beachesaround the country.
In what is believed to be a world-first drone surfrescue, two boys today got caught in three-metre swells whileswimming off Lennox Head in New South Wales, near the borderwith Queensland.
Beachgoers onshore raised the alarm to the lifeguards whothen alerted the drone pilot, and the aerial lifesaver wasdeployed in moments.
"I was able to launch it, fly it to the location, anddrop the pod all in about one to two minutes," lifeguardsupervisor Jai Sheridan told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
"On a normal day that would have taken our lifeguards afew minutes longer to reach the members of the public."Other than a little weary from their experience the pairwere reportedly unharmed.
Along with their ability to spot swimmers in trouble anddeliver life saving devices faster than traditional lifesavingtechniques, like launching surfboards or rubber dinghies,drones are being used in Australia to spot underwaterpredators like sharks and jellyfish.
Artificial intelligence is being developed usingthousands of images captured by a drone camera to build analgorithm that can identify different ocean objects.
The software can differentiate between sea creatures,like sharks which it can recognise with more than 90 per centaccuracy, compared to about 16 per cent with the naked eye.
Some beaches in Australia have shark nets, but agovernment report last year called for their phasing out infavour of exploring a range of alternatives, including sonartechnology and aerial patrols.
The inquiry found that nets did not guarantee publicsafety any more than other deterrents but caused significantdamage to marine life.(AFP)AMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.