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Jaws Alert: Mandurah’s Anna Philp creates worldwide shark app

Rachel FennerMandurah Coastal Times

A MANDURAH mother is helping to relieve some of the anxiety around going to the beach with her new app Jaws Alert.

The community-based app allows users to say if they have seen a shark or report a closed beach.

App creator Anna Philp said sharks seemed to be coming in closer to shore and the attacks were getting worse over time.

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“I’m not a ‘beachy’ person myself, but I do have kids and like to take them to the beach,” she said.

“My partner likes surfing and he was starting to get scared, it was not a nice feeling.

“You get to the beach and get anxious about going in.”

Ms Philp initially thought of making an app that scanned the beach.

After she did her research, she realised there were local apps for monitoring sharks but nothing worldwide.

The app uses GPS technology to pinpoint the user’s location.

The app then shows any reports of closed beaches or sharks in the area.

Ms Philp held a launch party for the app at the weekend.

By Monday afternoon, the app’s Facebook page had more than 1000 likes.

“Canada and (US users) have downloaded the app the most,” Ms Philp said.

“I’ve seen closed beaches in WA already.

“The reason I did not make it for just Australia is that the US and South Africa both have problems with sharks.”

Ms Philp, a mother of two girls, said she was an “entrepreneurial type of person”.

“I’ve tried to invent stuff in the past and I’ve crumbled only to see my idea come out later,” she said.

“It took a while to break through the barriers and say I’m going to create that.”

Jaws Alert is available for free on App Store and Google Play.