I have only ever seen small sharks while swimming or snorkelling. I have never had the privilege to see a large predator except while scuba diving.
Sadly, my current swimming terrain is almost void of reef fish, never mind predators!
For some open ocean swimmers around the world, sharks are a concern. I was reading a podcast list on FM Player this morning and came across an article which talks about a bracelet that you can wear as a shark deterrent. The product is called “Sharkbanz”.
The bracelet has a powerful permanent magnet which interferes with the shark’s perception once it senses the electromagnetic field. According to the Sharkbanz website, the “cause and effect is analogous to having a bright light suddenly shined in your eyes in a dark room. You would not be hurt, but you would want to turn away.”
In the promotional video available to view on YouTube, examples are shown how the shark actually eats the bracelet off a dead fish.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY6U9j3ZVes&w=560&h=315]
In this second video, a spearfisher tests the bracelet by sending down a line to some sharks eating his fish. The sharks swim away.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6KmvET4tSc&w=560&h=315]
There plenty of positive reviews online extolling the virtues of this product. It would be fantastic if shark nets could be replaced with a similar system on an underwater structure, to avoid the thousands of unnecessary deaths of marine life off netted beaches around the world.
Kudos to Sharkbanz – let’s hope that this kind of technology can be further developed and used to protect our marine life, including the sharks.
Available to buy from Amazon.couk.
