Simulation of a shark attack
Installing lighting on the underside of surfboards, kayaks or wetsuits could prevent most white shark attacks on humans. But be careful: the lighting cannot be stroboscopic.
A study this Monday in Current Biology proposes a simple but innovative solution to prevent shark attacks on humans: lots of light.
The team tested baits for 500 hours in Mossel Bay, South Africa – an area known for the presence of great white sharks.
As detailed in , the research team experimented with various LED light configurations (dim, intermediate, bright) and strobe lighting, in both horizontal and vertical arrangements, comparing each configuration to an unilluminated control lure.
Turn on the high beams; forget the blinkers
Illuminated decoys attracted significantly less attention of sharks than the unenlightened ones.
Brighter lighting has been shown to be more effective – then no predatory incidents were observed.
Strobe lighting was less effective than continuous lightingperhaps because the sharks could still see the silhouette of what they thought was prey between the flashes.
Continuous light was more efficientespecially in conditions where the luminous intensity exceeded or equaled the ambient backlight.
Based on these findings, the research team developed a prototype lights for use as a shark deterrentwith the aim of protecting swimmers and surfers.
“We are now moving from research to protecting swimmers and surfers. We took the approach of understanding the sensory system of these animals and the way they see the world, as well as their behavior,” the research leader told New Scientist. Laura Ryan,
However, the researcher from Macquarie University in Sydney warns that the lighting deterrent has not been tested on other species known to attack people, such as tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) and bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas), who have different hunting strategies.
