can technology save us from shark attacks

With shark attacks rising in countries such as Australia, some say the most effective way to prevent them could be personal repellent devices. Do they work?

in mid-january this 12 months, at some point of the warmth of the australian summer, shark scientist charlie huveneers spark off toward the neptune islands, close to the mouth of south australia’s spencer gulf. right here, about 250km (156 miles) south-west of adelaide, is one of the australia’s biggest aggregations of fantastic white sharks, and also the centre of the kingdom’s cage-diving tourism enterprise, which brings in around aus$8m (£4.5m).  

over 18 days, huveneers – who heads the southern shark ecology institution at adelaide’s flinders university – examined a sequence of commercially to be had shark deterrent gadgets to decide their effectiveness in repelling the sea’s maximum feared predator. over many long days at sea, his group found sharks from its boat and with cameras under the waves. during 300 trials, they studied sharks approaching capability prey some 1,500 instances.

the work they may be doing to check repellents is essential. shark attacks are growing in australia, and extra of these gadgets are being bought than ever earlier than, however very few fashions have been independently tested to fit producers’ claims.

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“private shark repellent or deterrent devices are the ‘holy grail’ of shark bite prevention, however the efficacy of a number of the maximum famous merchandise is questionable, and maximum have never been subjected to scientifically rigorous independent trying out,” says carl meyer, a shark ecologist at the hawaii institute of marine biology inside the us.

these devices may be useful, as long as human beings apprehend their level of effectiveness and how much they in reality reduce the hazard of attacks, huveneers says. he warns that some gadgets “would possibly create a fake sense of protection and lead humans to position themselves in riskier situations”.

at the same time as shark attack fatalities in australia have remained fairly regular, at a median of round one a yr, the number of bites in line with yr doubled when researchers in comparison the duration among 2000 to 2015 with 1990–2000. particular clusters of attacks have caused public outcries for the government to do extra. in western australia (wa), 15 fatalities seeing that 2000 led the nation authorities final year to offer a arguable aus$two hundred (£112) rebate closer to buying a aus$750 (£421) electrical repellent – the shark protect freedom7. in november, they placed any other aus$200,000 (£112,000) closer to this scheme.

however do these devices sincerely paintings? huveneers says he helps the wa government for choosing one of the simplest repellents independently tested by using scientists. as mentioned inside the magazine plos one in 2016, he changed into part of a group including university of western australia scientists, that examined it in south africa. by using attaching the electrodes to baits in waters plentiful with white sharks, they showed the freedom7 repelled them 90% of the time, however became best powerful to approximately 1m out from the device.  

the shark shield takes benefit of the truth that sharks have sensory organs around their snouts known as ampullae of lorenzini, which permit them to locate prey via the susceptible electric powered fields they emit. but an synthetic electrical field can be used to overwhelm the organs, inflicting the shark pain. that is what a shark shield does, through producing a field among  electrodes on an antenna. the charge is produced with the aid of a unit worn at the swimmer’s ankle, with the antenna and electrodes trailing in the back of.

it's miles considered one of several repellent gadgets that use an electric discipline. and while there are different processes, meyer concurs that electrical repellents have the best ability.

“sharks have a fantastically sensitive electroreceptive system that could produce an avoidance reaction if over-stimulated by means of a person-made electric area,” he says. “widely-spaced dipoles can correctly shroud your entire body in an electric powered discipline.” however, a hassle with many present merchandise is that the sphere covers little more than a diameter of 1m, that means it is able to’t guard the whole body.

the repellents currently tested on the neptune islands blanketed numerous untested electrical devices, magnetic deterrents, and a kind of surfboard wax meant to masks the scent of the surfer with natural merchandise such as clove oil and cayenne pepper.

the idea at the back of magnetic deterrents – which include wristbands containing sturdy magnets produced by using a organisation called sharkbanz – is that they work in a similar manner to the shark defend, growing a area that overwhelms a shark’s ampullae of lorenzini.

even as the idea is sound, a magnetic area will become very vulnerable even only some centimetres from the tool, says meyer. “a shark may, or might not, avoid eating your wrist-worn tool, however the relaxation of your frame is definitely unprotected.”

other processes were to expand gadgets that produce the sounds of looking killer whales (a predator of sharks), or wetsuits and surfboards with camouflage that mimics the banded patterns of venomous and unappealing prey, consisting of sea snakes.

some studies indicates that auditory repellents are useless, or sharks speedy get used to them.

“shark hearing is top-rated at low frequencies and poor-to-non-existent on the higher frequencies regular of orca calls,” says meyer. in the meantime, research in queensland has revealed that sea snakes are in truth very normally located in the stomachs of tiger sharks, so possibly no longer so unappetising.

huveneers provides that surfers and surfboards, visible by means of sharks cruising alongside the sea bottom, may additionally simply appear as darkish silhouettes on the surface, so colors and styles are often beside the point.

chemical repellents have also been created and trialled over time, with one currently marketed product being an aerosol spray referred to as anti-shark a hundred, made by using shark tec, which says it's miles “derived from putrefied shark”. 

there's some evidence that sharks steer clear of the ‘necromone’ chemical substances produced by way of other decomposing sharks, huveneers says. “the purpose for sharks to be deterred by this smell is unknown, but from an evolutionary perspective, it makes feel to go away an area where a conspecific [same specis] has lately died, as it might indicate hazard.”

still, at the same time as many chemical compounds are demanding or ugly to sharks, they dissipate rapidly into the water column, he says, limiting their effectiveness.  

“you’d ought to see the shark coming and then launch this aerosol into the water, and quite a few sharks decide upon sneak attacks,” says blake chapman, a shark researcher on the college of queensland and creator of shark assaults: myths, misunderstandings and human fear. “so, having a tool wherein you have to see the shark first, after which release some form of cue that it doesn’t like and go away… i can’t believe that it’s going to shop for you a whole lot of time.” 

chapman argues that no repellent device can ever be totally powerful. “i wouldn’t placed my lifestyles within the arms of any of these gadgets,” she says. “it comes all the way down to a shark’s motivation. when you have a 3m to 5m notable white, bull or tiger shark that’s ravenous, i'm able to nearly guarantee that nothing we’ve found, and in all likelihood nothing we can find out for some time, will deter that shark.”

she also questions whether it’s probable that a huge shark will abort an assault, a metre out from a prey object, once it has committed to swimming at excessive pace towards it.

huveneers admits that repellents are not going to stop enormously encouraged sharks, however says the south african trials showed that sharks are quite manoeuvrable and may and will abort assaults at very brief distances from capability prey.

he does, however, note that people want to be aware that repellent devices are regularly only powerful in precise places, for particular activities. consequently, a device which could display a few use for repelling white sharks from attacking surfers off the coast of cape town is probably absolutely ineffective at defensive scuba divers from lurking bull sharks in sydney harbour.

“i see the refinement of electrical-current based devices because the first-rate bet for effective private shark repellents, but i don't see any tool ever being 100% effective,” consents meyer.

chapman says that within the future current technologies might also evolve into greater powerful means of stopping investigative bites, but argues that the most effective tool is training. “people taking time to apprehend these animals and the situation will alleviate so many more occasions than any era ought to… just be smart approximately wherein you swim,” she says.

studies is, for example, uncovering clues on shark movement patterns that might screen what times of the day and year are excellent for decreasing the risks associated with various sports within the sea.

no matter the growth in shark incidents in wa in recent years, a few estimates advise the chance of being bitten by a shark off perth is still only approximately one in 30 million. to place that into attitude, you’re about one hundred instances more likely to be struck with the aid of lightning.

though, chapman says that if shark repellent gadgets allow human beings to sense secure getting into the water, then it’s already a excellent final results. “these things might also or might not paintings, however the possibilities of being bitten is so small, that if it’s giving you peace of mind to go out there and do your interest then it’s doing its task.”

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