The system is an ocean monitoring platform that specialises in detecting large marine life using state of the art sonar and identification software systems to relay critical information to authorities responsible for beach safety. The monitoring system is designed to be deployed beyond the surf zone and utilizes multi beam sonar transducers that are mounted on the ocean floor coupled with newly developed detection software to scan for marine life. The system creates a “virtual net” at the deployment locations and once an object is detected in the area, the software interrogates the target’s swimming pattern to determine the type of object and potential species.