Tweeting sharks are making it safer to go back in the water

We're seeing lots of products and services that automatically link to social networks to alert us to the world around us. These include mobile food trucks that tweet their locations daily to their customers and baby diapers that alert parents via Twitter when they are in need of changing. One of the coolest initiatives in this trend space is an alert system that has been set up in Western Australia where over 320 sharks have been fitted with electronic tracking transmitters. Now, scientists are not only able to study the movement of a growing number of these predators, but, they have linked it to the Twitter feed of Surf Life Saving Western Australia (@SLSWA) so that when one of these sharks swims as close as one kilometer of the shoreline, it sends out a tweet to alert swimmers and surfers. It's easy to imagine similar technology trending in homes so pet owners can keep track of their dogs and other things. We like it.