Researchers at Cal State Long Beach have begun testing a “semi-autonomous shark surveillance bot,” a prototype about 10 feet (three metres) long and three feet (one metre) wide, which hit the water last month in Southern California. The unmanned craft can patrol near beaches for up to a week, using acoustic receivers to listen for tagged white sharks, and includes cameras, with a drone planned for aerial surveillance sending live 360-degree images to lifeguards and biologists. Chris Lowe, a professor of marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at CSU Long Beach, said lifeguards or lab staff can drive it. Scientists at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing plan to add equipment to detect shark DNA in the water. Shark attacks remain rare: California has recorded 236 since 1950, including 17 fatalities, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. San Diego County has the most incidents with 27, followed by San Mateo County with 22, Santa Barbara with 21, then Marin, Monterey and Humboldt with 19 each, Santa Cruz County with 17, and San Luis Obispo and Sonoma counties with 16 each. Lowe noted sharks regularly swim near people daily without attacks. In December, Pebble Beach resident Erica Fox, 55, was killed by a great white shark off Lovers Point in Pacifica, Monterey County; her autopsy showed she died from a single bite from a shark Lowe estimates was 16