Australia has decided to take a unique approach to stop shark attacks by tagging sharks with an electronic device that send s out auto-tweets when it is swimming dangerously close to a beach.

While shark attacks are rare, especially fatal ones, Australia is ranked the second highest in terms of global shark attacks with 698 unprovoked attacks and it is ranked the highest in terms of shark fatalities, with 219 fatalities. With these statistics it makes sense the country would want to try to reduce the amount of attacks that happen on their beaches.

In total 320 sharks have been tagged with the auto-tweeting device, some of which include great white and bull sharks. The device allows the sharks position to be monitored where it is swimming, but the tweeting works independently, so it is not necessary for a person to send out the tweet. Instead it automatically happens via a computer that instantly turns the shark’s signal into a short message on Surf Life Saving Western Australia’s (SLSWA) Twitter feed.

Of course the service relies on people following the tweets and getting out of the water is optional, so while it might not prevent all shark attacks it could be a good start at curbing them.