Photo: 123rf
A new study is offering a ray of hope for shark-fearing beachgoers after discovering LED lights, that could be attached to surfboards, deterred great whites.
Australian researchers towed seal-shaped boards fitted with lights across great white-teeming South African coastal waters to discover which configuration attracted the most attention, according to the BBC.
The lights distorted the silhouette of their "decoys" on the ocean's surface and limited the ability of the great whites to see against the sunlight.
Auckland University marine scientist Dr Riley Elliott, known as New Zealand's 'Shark Man' has had his fair share of close encounters.
He directed a tiger shark documentary off Norfolk Island, and, in 2019, while conducting research for his PhD, a hungry mako shark tried to bite his boat.
Rather than fleeing the marine predator Elliot jumped into the water and filmed the creature up close.
He spoke to Sunday Morning's Jim Mora and said the fear of the sharks far outweighs their danger, with the average number of yearly shark attacks worldwide hovering around 70, of which, only five or six were fatalities.
"It's only a handful of times a year, but everyone is tragic."
But while you are more likely to die from lightning, anything that reduces the chance of shark attacks is a win-win for both sharks and swimmers, he said.
"The science is worthy. The results ... are promising.
"And if wearing a shark band or shark guardian or LED light under your surfboard makes you feel more comfortable, then cool."
Particularly because the research focused on great whites, common to New Zealand waters, and the cause of our most recent fatality.
"This [study] is particularly designed for great white sharks because they are the ones hunting seals, and surfers get mistaken for seals sometimes.
"[Great white sharks] hunt by silhouette looking up from 10 metres down on the bottom and murky water, generally dusk and dawn, trying to get that ambush approach and they see that silhouette of a seal, and they make a decision.
"[They're] incredibly intelligent and anything that shows them that this might not be what they think it is usually stops them and that could save someone's life."
Great white shark. Photo: Gérard Soury / Biosphoto
The science, he said, was complex and simple. Light shining downwards would potentially obscure the surfboard's profile, potentially making it invisible to the shark below.
The challenge, he said, would be convincing surfers to stick a large "spotlight" on their boards.
"Convincing surfers to take that on. Well, you know, I'm a surfer, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It's kind of the mentality, unfortunately.
"At the end of the day, a lot of surfers approach, and this goes for mountaineers and snowboarders and whatever, people who play in nature, generally tend to accept the risks that come with it."
He also cautions against the notion that a device like this would be 100 percent effective.
"I don't think it's going to solve all the world's shark problems."
"It's a very difficult thing, to control nature, though, and I equate this to a bull with an electric fence.
"Now, you might stop one walking up and sniffing it, but one that's charging is quite hard to do."
He said beachgoers can "dress up like lollipops and put elastic bands on their hands and electric currents around their legs, LEDs, whatever" but understanding shark behaviour was your best bet to stay safe.
"The science is cool. I'm into it ... human mentality is the harder thing to change."
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