60% of shark bites could be prevented with electronic deterrents, study finds

Image:”Great white shark” by 126 Club is licensed with CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

A new study has determined that many manufacturers produce shark deterrents that are ineffective.

Devices that use smells and magnetic fields as deterrent failed to repel sharks, to the same degree as the electronic versions.

Leading researcher Corey Bradshaw to suggest that 60% of shark bites could be prevented if beach goers wore the correct deterrent.

Bradshaw’s team used mock surfboards, bait and various equipment to test each deterrents effectiveness on sharks around South Australia’s Neptune Islands.

Edward McCarroll spoke to the study’s Lead author, professor Corey Bradshaw.

Produced By: Edward McCarroll

Featured In Story: Corey Bradshaw, Matthew Flinders Professor of Global Ecology

First aired on The Wire, Wednesday, 07 April 2021