Science

This $390 device attaches to your surf board and could save you from a shark attack

Kelly Dickerson

2015-09-30T13:56:00Z

Sharks attacked more than half a dozen surfers in North and South Carolina in a three-week period this summer — more than all of last year's attacks in those states combined.

The Carolinas weren't alone. A string of shark attacks has left some of Australia's most popular and best-known surfing beaches deserted, according to Reuters.

Experts say it's because this summer brewed the perfect storm for shark attacks: warmer ocean water, which attracts more sharks to shore, and more people than ever heading to beaches for a swim.

The solution is not to kill off more sharks — humans already slay 100 million a year just for their fins. That industry is already having catastrophic effects on delicate ocean ecosystems, and there's no reason to exacerbate the problem.

A more humane idea is to repel sharks. That's why an inventor has developed a $390 device surfers can embed in their boards to allegedly overpower the predators' delicate, electricity-sensing hunting organs.

Keep scrolling to see these high-tech surfboards and how they're supposed to work.

Shark attacks on people are exceedingly rare, but they do happen. Humans on surfboards can look like seals and other natural prey.

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A few people have tried to start up controversial "shark culling" programs to make it legal to shoot sharks on sight. There may be a more humane and practical solution though.

Sharks have special organs that are sensitive to electromagnetic fields and help them home in on prey. A new shark-repelling device claims to scramble this sense.

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It was invented by surfboard maker Dave Smith. Some surfers have already begun installing the devices in their boards through Smith's startup company called Surf Safe.

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It's fairly simple to install. The main charge box is embedded on the underside of a surfboard, near the fins at the back.

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A wire stretches from the box to almost the full length of the board.

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This wire carries the electric signal intended to scramble sharks' hunting organ. If it isn't precisely aligned along the underside of the board, though, it may not work.

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Surfer Arlen Macpherson tested one of the shark-repelling boards at Sydney's Bondi Beach in Australia on August 18. Surfers need to charge up the device before they paddle out.

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The company says you should feel a pulse in the water below the board if the device is working. It forms a protective 3-meter barrier around the board in every direction.

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There's some skepticism as to how well these shark-repelling devices work, though. It's tough to prove the device's effectiveness without putting a human in direct danger.

But Surf Safe and Smith say "extensive testing has been carried out and continually been carried out with tiger, bull sharks, whaler and other predatory sharks in a frenzied environment."

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Here you can see the shark speed away from the board when the device is switched on (look to the top right) during one of Smith's tests.

Macpherson's test went well — no sharks in sight.

Sharks are one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. Hopefully, shark-repellent surfboards will allow humans and sharks to peacefully coexist.

Animals