World’s First Shark Deterrent Wetsuit Developed in Australia
Who's volunteering to test it out?
The idea is that you dress in camouflage (see above) or as a zebra — not because sharks don't like zebras, but because the black-and-white stripey look signals poison. Rather than go in for the attack, the nearest great white will either fail to see you at all or avoid you like the plague.
Australian company Shark Mitigation Systems (SAMS) worked in conjunction with the University of Western Australia's Ocean Institute to develop the technology. The institute, led by Professor Shaun Collin and Professor Nathan Hart, have been studying the workings of shark sight for years. Among their discoveries are that our predatory friends see in black and white, and that their vision is the sense upon which they depend during the decisive moments leading up to attack.
'Many animals are repelled by a striped pattern, which indicates the potential prey is unsafe to eat,' Collin told the BBC. In initial tests, dummies wearing old school black wet suits were attacked by passing tiger sharks, while those in the stripey numbers were ignored. The onset of summer will see further trials. The impact on the behaviour of great whites remains to be seen.
Over the past two years, shark attacks have caused five fatalities in Australian waters and New Zealand suffered its first fatality in over 30 years recently. 'Everyone's looking for a solution, everyone's nervous about going in the water now,' SAMS entrepreneur Craig Anderson said.
However, Ali Hood, conservation director for the UK's Shark Trust, pointed out that, 'To suggest that "everyone's nervous of entering the water" is rather strong . . . Sadly, a great number of the fatalities attributed to sharks occur in avoidable circumstances'. She suggested that, relative to the growth in the masses of people engaging in water sports, the number of shark attacks has not increased.
SAMS technology has also been applied to stickers, which are said to transform surfboards, water skis, kayaks and underwater air tanks into shark deterrent objects. This weekend, SAMS makes an appearance on National Geographic's documentary, Australia's Deadliest: Shark Coast.
[via Grind TV]
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