Shark Shield works, scientists confirm

An independent peer-reviewed research paper, published in the renowned international science journal PLOS ONE has confirmed Shark Shield is an effective shark deterrent.

The research was conducted over a two and half year period at a reported cost of $680,000, funded by the Western Australian State Government as part of its investment in Shark Hazard Mitigation, following a spate of shark attacks in 2012 and plenty afterwards.

The research was led by Professor Shaun Collin, Assoc. Prof Nathan Hart, and Dr. Ryan Kempster of The University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute and the School of Animal Biology. The team also completed laboratory and field trials on other electrical shark deterrents in addition to exploring and testing novel ways to deter sharks including underwater sounds, bright flashing lights and bubbles.

Collin stated: "During testing, Shark Shield successfully turned white sharks away nine out of ten times. We hope this research will ultimately lead to the development of new electric-based shark deterrent technologies in the future."

A world renowned expert in his field, Collin has authored many scientific papers in the field including Electroreception in vertebrates and invertebrates published in the Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior, Oxford Academic Press (2010).

Lindsay Lyon, Managing Director of Shark Shield said: "This is the third independent scientific research paper proving Shark Shield to be the only device that effectively turns sharks away. This peer-reviewed paper shows adventure sport participates can remove up to 90 per cent of the risk in activities like diving, spearfishing, kayaking and surfing. This removes all doubt about the efficacy of Shark Shield’s proven technology."

The company behind Shark Shield recently announced a $400k capital raising initiative to support the final manufacturing setup and inventory for its new Freedom+ Surf surfboard shark deterrent developed jointly with Ocean & Earth and twice World Surfing Champion Tom Carroll. It looks like this device may be selling for around $800 or the cost of the surfboard. But what price a life?

In 2012, Dr Charlie Huveneers from the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and Flinders University tested the effectiveness of Shark Shield. Part of this independent scientific testing used a seal decoy off the coast of South Africa, with white sharks seen to visibly abort shark attack charges with no surface breach observed with the Shark Shield device turned on.

Dr Vic Peddemors, a renowned shark scientist who has been working with sharks since 1987, was involved in statistical testing of Shark Shield’s effectiveness back in 2003, also in South Africa on white sharks. During this testing it was shown that by using a Shark Shield the probability of an attack was reduced from 0.70 to 0.08 with no sharks taking the bait during testing.

Choice Magazine, the independent leading Australian Consumer Research organisation, published their own review of shark deterrent testing in January 2016, confirming Shark Shield as the only deterrent with scientific evidence of its effectiveness.

"Seat belts have been proven to save lives by reducing risk, without doubt Shark Shield products have been proven to reduce risk, so buckle up and wear one on your next adventure," added Lyon. More at Shark Shield.

Photo credit: Calypso Dive Charters