Official News page 6

REAL LIFE NEWS: SHARK EATS ANTI-SHARK DEVICE

by Hazed

It's an old joke that if you install a security system, it might get stolen: a burglar steals a burglar alarm, or a camera gets swiped by a thief. Now it seems even non-humans are getting in on the act. A great white shark has eaten an electronic device designed to deter sharks, thus highlighting the spectacular failure of the technology, the Shark Shield.

The news came out during an inquest into the death of Jarrod Stehbens, who was taken by a great white while diving in the waters off South Australia in 2005. He was studying cuttlefish at the time of his death, and his university had provided the boat with two Shark Shields - but he wasn't using them, either because he didn't know they were there or because he chose not to use them. The inquest turned into a trial of the Shark Shield devices, as concerns emerged that the electronic fields generated to repel sharks may actually attract them.

In a test of the device off South Africa, the electronic gadget was activated on a float carrying bait when a female shark three and a half metres long approached. Rather than being deterred by the Shark Shield, the shark bit into it. Not the result they were expecting, I am sure!

Fed2 Star index Previous issues Fed 2 home page