Zebra stripes are among a range of new swimwear designs and devices being adopted by surfers and swimmers in Australia aimed at deterring shark attacks.
The latest attack came on Saturday, when what is believed to have been a great white shark severely maimed a 38-year-old man who was surfing at the popular Lighthouse beach, about 400km north of Sydney.
Swimmers and surfers in the area have suffered 13 serious shark encounters since February that have left a Japanese surfer dead and at least three others severely injured. Sharks have killed at least seven people over the past five years off beaches in Western Australia.
Authorities are resisting pressure for shark culls and instead encourage surfers and divers to turn to new equipment, including designs for their bodysuits and boards, and electronic pulsing devices. One of the most popular new technologies is a garish full body swimsuit that includes zebra stripes. A wearer’s surfboard can have the same markings. The stripes are intended to confuse sharks in the seconds before they strike.
“Most shark attacks are mistaken identity,” said Robert Lushey of Radiator, the Australian wetsuit company that is using the technology. “They see a slow-moving black silhouette that looks like their favourite food. But in the final moments of the attack, if you can break up the visual, you stand a better chance of getting away.”
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The world-first shark repellent suits are based on research from the University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute about how sharks identify prey. The suits use a combination of colours and patterns to confuse the creatures.
One design — known as the “cryptic” wetsuit — allows the wearer to blend in with background colours in the water, making it difficult for a shark to detect the wearer.
The other design — the “warning” wetsuit with zebra stripes — makes the user appear highly visible by using stripes to make them appear unlike any normal prey. The designs also come with stickers for the undersides of surfboards.
Other new technologies being rolled out to protect people in the water include Shark Shield, an electronic field which extends up to 6m out from wearers of the small electrical device. According to the manufacturer’s website, the electronic pulses do not harm the shark but annoy it. The closer the shark gets, the more spasms occur in its snout, which causes it to turn away from the electronic field, protecting the user.
Another system that has attracted much interest uses sonar-equipped buoys that detect large creatures. The buoys then send real-time intelligence about shark activity to lifeguards on the beach via satellite and the cellular phone network. The system is expected to be tried for the first time this summer on a large Sydney beach.
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In the attack on Saturday, bystanders rushed to the aid of the victim and used their clothes to stem what medical staff later said was a considerable loss of blood. Several bystanders, including an off-duty doctor, were the first to the man’s aid after his friends pulled him from the water.
The victim was in “a severely shocked state” when paramedics arrived a short time later, an ambulance service spokesman said. “There was a significant amount of blood loss — obviously he was in the water for a period,” he said.