Great white shark Fortrose Google alert for Scottish town meant for Southland settlement

Great white sharks like New Zealand waters, not Scottish ones. File photo / Clinton Duffy

Da dum, da dum, da dum - this is the warning you never want to receive.

But for Scots in a Highland town it was a taste of life in great white shark territory down under this week after a Google alert meant for those living in a remote Southland settlement was instead dispatched to residents halfway across the globe in a town with the same name, the Daily Mail UK reported.

The fishy faux pas occurred after Bluff-based shark cage-diving tour company Shark Experience posted a Facebook plea to Fortrose residents in southern Catlins on Monday to look out for the washed ashore tag of a great white shark being tracked by scientists in Australia.

The call to action indicated an apex predator had been or remained in the area, no surprise to Southland residents, given the sharks are known to frequent southern waters.

Nae, you won't find any great white sharks here. Photo / Paul Davies

Not so for those living in Fortrose, Scotland, a settlement of fewer than 2000 next to Moray Firth, fed by the nearby North Sea and almost 300km north of Glasgow.

Anyone with Google alerts set up for breaking news about Fortrose may have found themselves nervously scanning the firth for a distinctive fin.

Fortrose in Scotland is known for its dolphin watching, with nearby Chanonry Point offering the best views of the marine mammals as they swim up Moray Firth to feed, the Daily Mail reported.

There have never been confirmed sightings of great whites in Scottish waters, although there have been a few considered as credible over the last 20 years.

Many scientists say with climate change contributing to rising ocean temperatures the species would start to migrate there, the Mail reported.

Meanwhile, more than 18,000 kilometres away Catlins residents were racing the clock to find the great white’s mussel-shaped New South Wales Fisheries Shark Smart Program tag before a tide change risked washing it away.

Scientists at the program use data stored on the tag to understand how great white sharks behave and travel.

Kelsi and dog Quasi after they found a New South Wales Fisheries Shark Smart program tag that had been attached to a great white shark. Photo / Shark Experience - Bluff, via Facebook

It was pooch Quasi and owner Kelsi who brought the saga to an end at a remote, low-tide only accessible beach on Thursday, with Shark Experience - Bluff posting the good news to Facebook.

“On the low tide yesterday evening, Quasi the black Labrador took his owner, Kelsi, for a walk, and after investigating a pile of seaweed, the tag flew out!

“That bit of weed had been searched previously but Quasi’s special talent for “rag-dolling” and shaking weed dislodged it for all to see.”

Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.