March 23, 2026

New Alabama Shark Sighting Alerts Starts April 1st

By Rick McCann
Blue RAM Media/Gulf Coast News

March 23, 2026

GULF SHORES, Ala. Legislation inspired by a Mountain Brook teenager who lost a hand and a leg in a shark attack in Florida in 2024 became law in May 2025 and directs the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to work with emergency management agencies and law enforcement offices on the state’s coast to set up an Amber Alert-style notification system for shark attacks.

Alabama’s new mass notification system for statistically rare shark attacks on Mobile and Baldwin counties’ beaches will finally go into effect next month.

This alert system is set to kick off on April 1, 2026.

Alerts will be sent to all cellphones in the specific sighting zone.

Similar to an Amber or Silver Alert, Alabama beachgoers will receive a cell phone alert if there’s a shark attack close to the device.

“All of these wireless emergency alerts will be geofenced to where they’re only hitting people along the coast of Alabama,” Baldwin Emergency Management Agency Director said.