Scientists have discovered an “invisibility cloak” surfers could use to fend of great white shark attacks.
In a study conducted off the South African coast, Australian researchers have discovered that shark attacks could be reduced by using LED lights.
Research fellows in comparative neurobiology Dr Laura Ryan and neurobiologist and head of the Macquarie University School of Natural Scientists Professor Nathan Hart spent six years in Mossel Bay, South Africa testing whether or not they could trick great whites with lights.
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Dr Ryan, was studying the visual system of great white sharks when the idea sparked.
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She said: “There was a big spate of shark bites and as a really keen surfer I was spending a lot of time thinking about shark’s eyesight.
“I started to think what if what I was learning could potentially protect surfers?”
The study involved towed seal-shaped decoys with lighting on the underside behind a boat in shark-infested waters and found sharks were less likely to interact with the decoy as they became brighter. The researchers said the LED lighting reduced the shark’s ability to see silhouettes against sunlight above.
In related studies, the researchers have also found that, like most sharks, great whites are probably completely colour-blind and have poor vision. However, great white sharks are good at spotting a silhouette, and surfers and swimmers may have a similar profile to prey.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
The team also tested breaking the silhouette up with LED lights among other theories and found that lights in stripes across the bodies of the seal decoys running perpendicular to the direction of travel was the ideal pattern to fool a great white. In fact, it stopped the shark from attacking the decoy, reports the ABC.
Professor Hart said the affect of this pattern was akin to an “invisibility cloak”.
He said: “It’s like an invisibility cloak but with the exception that we are splitting the object, the visual silhouette, into smaller bits.
“It’s a complex interaction with the shark’s behaviour. The lights have to be a certain pattern, a certain brightness.”
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Although South African authorities wouldn’t allow for surfboard-shaped decoys to be used in the experiment for fear it could create greater danger for surfers, the team say their study offers hope for a “non-lethal shark deterrent especially for surfers”.
Dr Ryan said: “What we’re trying to do now is move from seal decoys into a surfboard prototype by embedding LEDs into the bottom of a surfboard.”
The team are not sure if the LED lights will have the same effect on other shark species, as they “may not rely on visual cues as much as white sharks”.
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