Study: Deterrent devices can slash bite risk by 66%
‘No shark deterrent is 100% effective but when independent testing demonstrates a statistically significant reduction in interactions with sharks, consumers can be confident that safety is enhanced.’
BOND UNIVERSITY SHARK EXPERT DARYL MCPHEE
Investing in a shark deterrent device can go a long way toward avoiding a deadly bite.
That’s what shark researchers recently found after testing the electricfield device in great white shark-infested waters.
The shark scientists determined that the surfboard-mounted shark deterrent device reduced the likelihood of a shark chomp by 66% during testing off Australia.
The Australian-made Rpela V2 also cut shark interactions — such as a nudge — by 38%, potentially giving surfers extra time to exit the water after encountering an apex predator.
The study at a remote hot spot for great white sharks in Western Australia showed that the device with an electrical field “significantly reduced the probability of a bite or interaction with white sharks, and, when one did occur, the time to bite,” reads the research in the Journal of Marine Science and Technology.
“Sharks also kept a greater distance from the bait when Rpela V2 was active,” the scientists concluded. “Thus, the risk of a bite occurring is expected to be less when the device is used.”
This study comes after researchers months ago determined that shark deterrents could save dozens of people from getting bitten by sharks each year.
The Rpela V2 rechargeable device costs $500 and clips into the surfboard’s bottom deck.
The deterrent produces an electric field around the surfer that can overwhelm great white sharks’ electroreception organs — which the sharks use to navigate and assess their surroundings.
The electric pulses do not harm the apex predators, and researchers compared it to humans moving away from unpleasantly loud music.
Bond University shark expert Daryl McPhee and Ocean Ramsey, who’s famous for free diving with large great white sharks, helped conduct the research.
McPhee said surfers rather than other water users were increasingly being bitten by sharks, raising the importance of personal mitigation measures designed specifically for surfers.
“As well as the Rpela V2 we assessed in this study, electric deterrents developed by Ocean Guardian have been tested several times and have been shown to be effective,” McPhee said.
“No shark deterrent is 100% effective but when independent testing demonstrates a statistically significant reduction in interactions with sharks, consumers can be confident that safety is enhanced,” he added.
Following the recent incidents of great white sharks biting a few people off Cape Cod — and the region’s first fatal shark attack since 1936 — shark deterrent sales have been climbing on the Cape, including the Ocean Guardian devices.