New video shows electronic shark shields don't work
A video recently shot by South Australian researchers show that electronic shark shields don't deter sharks from attacking.
The video was made by South Australia's department of primary industries while testing the effectiveness of the personal protection devices. They found that sharks often ignored the shark shield while offered a tuna bait with the deterrent attached.
The tests were carried out off the Neptune Islands in South Australia and also off the coast of South Africa with the video clearly showing large sharks taking a static bait and even brushing against the deterrent devices. This behaviour is contrary to the claims of manufacturers who state that sharks avoid the shields as they interfere with their senses.
The video was only made public after an application to the Freedom of Information Act was entered by South Australia's Family First MLC Robert Brokenshire. Brokenshire said he applied for the video because thousands of recreational and professional divers relied on the devices.
Lead researcher Dr Charlie Huveneers, from Flinders University, told Adelaide Now the scientists didn't want to release the video because they knew people would misinterpret the results.
Dr Huveneers said there were 116 trials using a static bait at the Neptune Islands, 49 with the deterrent turned off and 67 with it on. "The bait was taken within the 15-minute period in 78 per cent of the trials, with the deterrent not affecting the likelihood of the baits being taken"
"There was no significant difference between the proportion of bait taken when the deterrent was turned off or on," said Dr Huveneers.
Comments
While I've always been dubious of the shark shields, I question how much a surfer in the water resembles a hunk of bleeding tuna bait... I mean, I would endure a painfully shrieking siren for a few seconds to retrieve $1000, but I wouldn't endure it for a suspicious looking bag that may or may not contain anything at all
Always thought those things were dodgy. I wonder if those sharks in the study will now associate the KI surfers who wear the devices who surf a known seal colony break not far south as bags of tuna now....
"Dr Charlie Huveneers [said] the scientists didn't want to release the video because they knew people would misinterpret the results".
With results like that, what's to misinterpret??!! Withholding it seems almost criminally negligent.
I used a shark shield over a period of about 2 years in SA, on quite a few occasions and more often than not it would electrocute me during a wipeout but you had to get real close or literally touch the cable for it to do so. It has quite a hell of a boot so I'd argue if a shark was just being curious swimming by it might still work... if it was a hungry pregnant female however, your number might be up, shark shield or not.
It would be interesting to see what the reaction is from the Various Navy outfits around the world. Government contracts have lapped up quite a few shark shields and they might be pretty pissed if these results are indeed conclusive. More thorough tests need to be done before you can wipe it from the shelves.
Is there a money back guarantee if fatally mauled?
I went to cactus with a mate a few years ago. He had a shark shield, generator etc. He said his wife insisted he use it over there. It took up half the car with that setup!
Then he started up the generator at 6am to charge the thing before a surf! I told him to move the generator 100m from the campsite so as to not piss off our fellow campers. Didn't feel real comfortable surfing with him either. Not only was it a constant reminder of the risk of shark attack, I figured any shark would swim past him and attack the next person in the lineup. ME:(
I'd be surprised if the device doesn't attract the inquisitive creatures into the area. As if the big fish wouldn't sense the pulse from a distance and come take a look. Stuffed if I would let someone surf with one on next to me, let alone turn a generator on early in the mornin in the peace of cactus...
"He said his wife insisted he use it over there." ha ha nice excuse! I thought about getting one when I started dreaming about whites all the time. Couldn't get passed the thought that maybe they attracted the sharks before they repelled them either. To many cases of people wearing them that have been buzzed by big sharks compared to the numbers of people buzzed that don't wear em I reckon.
Water was cleared at Scarborough in Perth today after a tagged white set the acoustic pingers off at the beach. All good except apparently the alarm went off about an hour after the ping.
I recently watched a documentary on fish et al and how they see each other, they see and recognize each other from their reflective signature, sort of like those old radio stickers that had the diamond reflection/mirror patterns or the reflective paint on fishing lures.
This is a lot like how we can see those things only the fish see more of an ultra violet thing which the human eye can't see. This is the fish's signature if you like for them to identify each other and other species.
I think some research here could yield some good results if not only to inform sharks that we are 'not' slabs of tuna or seals rather than them taste testing to find out :)
It might be something as simple as strips of this pattern on the wetty and the board to identify 'us'.
a quick search turned up this - http://www.sharkcamo.com/
I've been following this story for a few days now. A key point that seems to be getting little attention, the sharks didn't attack the seal decoy when it had hte unit attached and turned on. Now the question is: Do you think you're more like a bloody tuna or a swimming seal? There are also some great comments here: http://www.akff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=57473&p=597649 It really seems like the media got hold of a good headline and just aren't paying attention.
this video is flawed,,nothing will stop a hungry shark,but the shield will buy you a few minutes,thats the difference between going for lunch and being lunch,once the shark has taken the bait it backs of pretty quickly..and if you smell like a bag of bleeding bait i wouldnt be going in the water, theres plenty of videos online to counter this video..
G'Day Archbishop Tootoo,
Martin Grace, the CEO of Shark Shield, will soon be answering a few questions about the electronic shark devices on Swellnet. Tune in next week sometime.
We don't have to tune in next week to hear what Martin has to say. As the Sharkshield CEO he will of course refute the SARDI findings, he is not going to damage his product's reputation. But Shark Shield have a way out saying that sharks are dangerous and unpredictable - wow we never knew that before. I dunno why this discussion even features on surf forums as its more pertinent to diving and spearfishing. I've never see anyone wearing a shark shield in the surf and I don't use one myself surfing but I wear one all the time when diving here in SA waters.
I'm with you nat-old! Until this product is thrown over the stern with a human attached to it at Neptunes then I'll continue to take this products hype with a grain of salt...
@Nat Old,
The discussion is happening on a surf forum because Shark Shield manufacture and distribute a product made for surfers. The 'Surf 7' shield is specifically made to attach to a surfboard. If it does what it's claimed to do then Martin can put his word to it and surfers can make their choice.
Also, as you'd well know there's been a spate of shark attacks/fatalities in WA and govt has spent money on private industry to research it and find a solution. Tagging and tracking are one thing but it's no great leap to see that if a company did create a successful electronic deterrent it could drastically change the state of affairs. For that reason alone - that is, the possibility that further R&D lead to a breakthrough in personal devices - I'm interested in electronic deterrents.
Lastly, Martin claims the initial story (the testing and video made public) was incorrect so I'd like to hear his side.
@nat-old
Jeez, I'd hate to play poker with you because I'd have no idea what the hell you had in your hand.
Lemme see if I've got this right: Sharkshield is crap but you wear one all the time when diving in SA waters, just in case?
Do you put it on before or after you sacrifice the virgin goat?
I'm a spearfisherman and I have done my own tests with burly on bronze whalers, bull sharks and reef sharks. The sharksheild has a dramatic effect on those sharks. They wig right out and bolt away when u flick the on switch. I'd say they would deter a white from eating something they were already confused about. A surfer is not a bleeding tuna.
Whaaaat - Mate I didn't say sharkshield was crap, I'm like the bulk of the population who is yet to encounter a white shark with one. Fact is high profile SA/WA abalone diver Peter Clarkson put his testimonials on the shark shield website prior to him being taken by a great white. On the balance of probability he was wearing an operational shark shield at the time. Sharkshields are a nuisance when inside wrecks, working in ledges pulling crayfish or looking through the viewfinder of a camera underwater. The antenna brushes against limbs causing a mild electric fence type shock. I normally switch it off when on the bottom but have it running when surfacing and doing deco stops under the boat. When I surf there is usually plenty of other crew around and I'm prepared to take the risk without one. I figure I'm less vulnerable sitting on a board than floating a couple of metres down like a piece of bait. Posts like drewerd are encouraging because I hope the shark shield really works when I come to need it.
Ah, Nat, mate, just taking the piss. Don't like the thought of any of you blokes down there attracting any more of the blokes in grey suits than you have to. Long may you run ole son. Or swim.
PS. Don't think putting the occasional goat up to Huey would do any harm but.
PPS. Taste great done on charcoal, too.
Another example of the media and "if it bleeds it leads." The media can't be expected to have the scientific knowledge needed to adequately understand these studies.
Some FAQs
1.The tests were conducted in an extreme, unrealistic environment where there's shark cage diving and the water was chummed. It has been demonstrated that chumming changes shark behavior.
2. For the tuna tests the unit was placed within 2-3m, and when SS was ON the length of time doubled from 122 seconds to 244 seconds for the shark to take the bait.
3. Seal decoys were towed behind a boat at 8-10km per hour with a SS ON and suspended at 2 meters and there were NO surface breaches.
4. When the same seal decoys were towed with the SS OFF there were 16 surface breaches. The purpose of Shark Shield is to safely get to shore or a boat in the event of a shark sighting, not to swim with sharks.
This study demonstrates that Shark Shield creates more time to get to safety and decreases breaches, just as intended. Why wouldn't you wear one?
Oh, and there's some more cool footage that went up a few days ago. Here's footage from Terra Australis of a hammerhead chomping on the ESDS unit! They did tests with the SS and it didn't get chomped. Shark Shields work! http://vimeo.com/51332864
any s.a. or w.a. abalone diver/surfers out there , that use these devices that can comment ? or pearl divers in north w.a.
Was talking to a pro diver the other day who reckons they have all of their guys wearing the shields, it gives them some piece of mind on all of the sharks except the white he reckons. It sounds like one of the main problems they have is that when they are working they are getting zapped all the time so the majority of the time they have them off and just use the shields when they are ascending and descending or try to turn them on if they see something.
He said they tested it on crocs when working in the NT and reckons they went ballistic when it was turned on, has there been any testing to back this up?
When diving in WA now he said everyone sinks to the bottom straight away and pretends to be limpits, no one wants to be hanging out in the mid water or on the surface anymore. he reckons the cockburn sound in perth has become a bit of a highway for the whites now and his guys have had a few close encounters recently.
A couple of huge hooks with massive tuna baits still sounds like a great idea to me.
Either that or make a small industry out of it by getting some tourists to pay big bucks to go out and take a handfull of the big whites out of the picture every year. Permit it and have a strict quota based on "science" related to number and size of sharks taken out. Might as well make a couple of bucks instead of just pouring tax payers money it.
I have a copy of this study. Lillianv is correct. The sheilds made the sharks more cautious and took longer to take the bait. The study itself states that there was no evidence to the claim that the sheilds attract sharks.I personally know someone who has been diving with a sheild and turned it off because of the constant shocks in tight spaces. This person was investigated by a large tiger shark off steep point in WA and when the sheild was turned back on the shark made a rapid 180 degree turn. A shark at full speed in attack mode would be another story. I don't surf with one but when I dive in water 30m deep and the bottom cannot be seen until descending to 10 or 15m then I don't care if my $700 sheild actually works or not, it's like a security blanket to me.
I have dived and surfed in SA for 40 years and for the last 5 years I have dived with a shark shield. I don't look or smell like a bleeding tuna steak or a baby seal lure so feel pretty confident with it. I don't bother to use it at Triggs, Middleton or Port Noarlunga reef but it feels great when I have it strapped on diving at The Pages, Haystack and Althorpe. I surfed and dived without it but feel much better with it.
You've dived out at The Pages, Haystack and Althorpe? Wow.. what is it like? I'm new to diving (and have only done a half a dozen boat dives off Sydney) but the thought of descending anywhere in South Oz gives me the chills. No probs surfing though.
Hey Mick D, I had my custom board sprayed like that (black and white zebra stripes)for that very reason. I always thought it wouldn't,t hurt to have a colour scheme on boards or wet ties that mimics things in nature that the sharks won't touch. Surprised that the wetsuit manufacturers haven't caught onto this yet.
Rocky52 you sound about my vintage with the number of years diving and surfing in SA. What is is like out at the Pages, depth, marine life, crays etc? The water should be clear out that far. Thermalben - I've dived Althorpe, generally clear water, seals. blue groper, crays, harlequin fish and nice dropoff into deeper water on the south side. Generally all the remote areas are top notch, ie Thistle island, the group, KI, Avoid bay, Whalers Way and Investigator group. Clear water and abundant, vibrant marine life. The HMAS Hobart wrecksite off Rapid Bay is a brilliant local dive with plenty of snapper - that's where you feel better wearing a shark shield!
If you are 50s born, nat-old then I reckon you are like me about 52 vintage. The Pages is scary. Australian Sea Lion breeding colony. Like Haystack, Althorpe - more sheltered on the south side but very swell and current affected. Water is clear and cold. I have not been out there for about 10 years - but it was great for crays, blue devils, plenty of rock fish of all types and abs. Needs no swell and no wind as it is so far off the mainland and KI. A real mission to get there unless you have a BIG boat. The shark shield would have made it way less scary.
That should read - sheltered on the North side, not the south.
Rocky, you'd never get me diving off the Pages unless I was in a cage or something similar!
I've noticed waves breaking on the reefs out there from the Fleurieu coast, have you seen anything of quality out there at all or is it more just waves breaking into the rocks/dry reef?
This report on some new research seems to at least preliminarily back up the idea behind the 'sharkcamo' product mentioned by mickd above. Interesting. Whites... smart little buggers. Smarter than the average bear at least.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h0WzO-iADbPtbUQm2Dxm-...