I love the beach. I feel so calm lying on the warm sand with the sound of the waves hitting the shore around me, until my feet hit that water and I’m reminded of the menacing creatures that lurk further out. For the water-wader, you really only worry about jellyfish or the sea shells cutting your feet (depending on what beach you’re on of course.) But for those of us who like to be out in the water either swimming, surfing, diving or fishing, we have much bigger worries swimming through our mind. I have this terrible fear that if I get too far out, I’m going to get attacked by a great white shark. I’ve never even seen the movie Jaws (shocking, right?) but I just know that will be my life the minute I exceed ankle-deep water. Maybe it is a somewhat irrational fear. Statistically, shark attacks are pretty rare — and great white shark attacks even rarer, by that logic.
Recently, I read about a shark encounter that really got me thinking. There were 2 men surfing at Hermosa Beach in California last week around 10 A.M. and they encountered a shark. This is reportedly twice now that this same shark has been encountered and it seemed to be growing less weary of humans. After reading this, I became intrigued and started researching more shark sightings and apparently, they’ve become more frequent this year…
While reading more stories, I came across a study done by the University of Western Australia’s Ocean Institute in which they tested different kinds of shark deterrent to see which caused the shark to avoid bait. They tested strobe lights, loud underwater sounds (natural and artificial), a bubble curtain, and an electric field.
Shark Shield
Of these results, the electric field was most effective. This device is actually already commercially available. The Shark Shield can be found on their website, and also at Amazon and Scuba.com. Unfortunately, the cost isn’t just some extra cash you might have lying around (for most of us) but it’s definitely a legitimate investment for someone who spends quite a bit of time out on the water. It’s perfect for the daily surfer or fisher to take with them, because like I said, you never know. While a shark attack (great white shark or other) is pretty unlikely, as I said before, you never know when it could happen to you! Wouldn’t you want to take the best precaution, especially one that is environmentally-friendly?
Wetsuits That Might Fight Off Sharks
The University has also been doing research to try and figure out some pattern of why sharks attack people, though we’ll never really know for sure. It’s been an assumption among surfers that the reason they get attacked most is because they resemble a shark’s favorite dinner swimming on top of the surface. Unfortunately, there is still limited research to back up any circulating theories.
The theory that the surfers look like seals, however, sparked an idea a while back. Maybe by making the wetsuits look different, it would deter the sharks from the surfers. Dr. Nathan Hart, from the University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute and school of animal biology, has been working on this research for quite some time. He has also had his hand in helping to make two anti-shark wetsuits. The suits are designed with a specific combination of colors and patterns intended to differentiate the person from a seal.
I love marine life and I am so interested in learning about it, especially sharks. As scary as they are, they’re incredibly interesting animals and it seems often times they’re misunderstood.
I will love them as long as I’m far, far away from them safe in my house. It’s safe to say I will probably always remain terrified of the deep end of the ocean, but it’s cool to think that we have the technology to keep ourselves a little bit safer in the sea.
