SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian man has been charged with stealing a monitoring tag from a great white shark, reportedly setting off a string of false shark alarms in Western Australia.

Police in the town of Albany charged the 48-year-old man with stealing an "acoustic monitor tag" used to track great white sharks off the coast, they said in a statement received on Wednesday (Oct 13).

He is to face Albany magistrates court on Nov 4.

Tagged sharks trigger an alarm when they swim within range of a network of 34 receivers dotted along the West Australian coast, giving people real-time warnings of the danger at key locations.

Though police gave no further details, a report in the West Australian newspaper said the man removed the tag when he caught a great white shark by mistake and then released it alive.

The tag then allegedly set off shark alarms seven times between Aug 13 and Sept 4, the paper said.