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Surfing, especially in places like South Australia, can be a little dangerous in winter. Every year there's a few fatalities, due to attacks by Great White Sharks.
The most sensible solution is not to go in the water. After that there's a few things you might do, like the following:
Make the
board completely clear, so it acts like a glass boat, allowing perfect vision of what's happening below. That way you can see if there are any sharks below you. (They usually attack from beneath the water, I believe)
Add either:
1. A rapidly inflating Kevlar dinghy that requires you to get arms and legs inboard and then pull the toggle, POP!, you're in a boat, or
2. A chemical rocket motor in the back of the board.
Either one will keep you safe from most attacks. Of course, if you fire up the rocket then you'd be wise to hang on tight, 'cause it's gonna be one hell of a ride!
Disposable Anti-Shark Attack Surfboard
Disposable_20Anti-S...0Attack_20Surfboard
by mcscotland. [calum, Nov 01 2005]
Shark Alert Surfboard
Shark_20Alert_20Surfboard
[longshot9999, Nov 17 2008]
Chemical Shark Repellent
http://news.nationa...sharkrepellent.html
Uses their own biochemistry against them [Zimmy, Nov 17 2008]
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Annotation:
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I like this and I would think some simple shark deterrent (noise maker? electric current?) would be more than adequate. |
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But that relies on you noticing the shark in the first place. Given that sharks are pretty good at catching their normal prey, who presumably are on the lookout for predators 24x7, I wonder how much attention someone concentrating on hanging ten is paying to the water below? |
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If you're surfing in SA these days, I would suggest that just about everyone is looking out. |
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Most are attacked while they are sitting on their boards, waiting for a wave. |
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Can you see the jellyfish coming? Which coast are you on?
There should be a way to secure yourself before firing the rocket. But I like the kevlar dinghy option. |
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I'm on the East coast. Why does that matter? |
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As for security... just make sure your leg rope is nice and tight. |
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Aren't the jellyfish more dangerous on the Northeast coast? |
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Yep, that's the Box Jellyfish and the Irukandji. They're not just dangerous, but deadly. They also occur right across the north. Dangerous time is September to May, which is when you're likely to go swimming... the hot part of the year. |
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Im a scuba diver and have a saying - If you can see the shark its not going to attack you. |
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Not much reassurance there but I think the idea of repellent works better |
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A low voltage electric current may repel the shark but it is also possible it would attract them (the sense prey using electrical impulses). I dont know how good a sharks sense of sound is. |
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You can get commercial shark deterrants, Ill try to find a link |
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This would inevitably lead to the formation of extreme surfing. Although I'm not sure if it would be at all feasible for surfers to keep their balance after firing off the rocket. |
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//If you can see the shark its not going to attack you.// |
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Amen. Get off the surface, sitting duck. They’re generally well behaved if you hang out *with* them (and aren’t spear fishing). |
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Getting a visual on an attacking shark in low visibility conditions seems inadequate. How about sonar that beeps for large fish only, then sounds the ‘hold on for dear life’ alarm before automatically firing the rocket if one is approaching. Um, make sure you’re pointing towards the shore. |
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On a less halfbaked note: Don’t surf at dawn or dusk when large predators normally feed, and don’t dangle your feet in the water if you don’t have to. |
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That's the sort of thing I meant, [Shz]. Most survivors also report being bumped first, then hit with a mouthful of ivory shredder blades. |
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"If you can see the shark its not going to attack you" - if that is correct, I'm putting a pair of eyeballs on the bottom of my surfboard. Along with a video cam and sonar. |
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Actually, that does prompt the question - why aren't surfing beaches equipped with sonar and underwater video monitoring? |
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Because sonar is likely the cause of mass beachings of whales. |
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Hm, yeah, but that's the high-powered naval warfare kind, I thought, not the gentle pinging of civilian models. |
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True, it’s the loud (military) ULF that causes the harm, understandably. |
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I don’t think sonar ‘nets’ and video installations can be justified. We already know there are sharks in the water. |
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...And you probably *don't* want to know just how often there's a big feller hanging around... |
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//sonar is likely the cause of mass beachings of whales// But then the presence of all that free whale meat might distract the sharks.
//If you're surfing in SA these days// Thanks for the advice - I'm off the Cape Town next month. |
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I think the clear board is an interesting idea. I heard that part of the problem is that the siloette of a surfer on a board is close to that of a seal, so that is what the shark is going for.
Maybe use LEDs or chemical lights to duplicate the ambiant light to effectively make the board invisible to the shark? Could probably save power by just displaying the frequencies that transmit thru the water. |
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If you knew they would always come from below, you could sense them with sonar and then deter them with some kind of sonic pulse or tiny explosive. |
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If Zee shark coomes too cloz, I will punch 'im on zee nose |
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Rather than waiting for a shark to get close, use metal filaments in the board which dissapate the sharks sensing. Sharks are very good at detecting things they cant see so make yourself apear like something they dont want to get near, like a boat. |
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Attach another surf board to the back of yours with a piece of rope and make it more attractive than you (half a pig strapped to the bottom should do it). When/if a shark turns up it will more than likely go for the pig, thus alerting you to it's presence and giving you a chance to swim for it. |
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Actually that's very silly. I can't help feeling that most sensible solutions to shark attack have been explored. [+] for the kevlar inflatable. It should go of like a car airbag. |
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I thought for sure that there was a chemical repellent. |
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I remember seeing a show where it tested - I think it was made from some chemical sharks give off when they are in distress. I'll see if I can find a link. |
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P.S. I thought I had a great idea for this (shark repellent surf board) when I thought of putting a strobe light on one. I think a marine biologist saw the idea and said the electrical pulses from a strobe would ATTRACT sharks, not repel them. Ooops. |
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[Zimmy], you may be thinking of the batman series where batman uses a shark repellent spray. |
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If the surfboard had a recess holding a massive balloon and a cannister of helium, then at a press of a button you could inflate the balloon and float away, on your surfboard, escaping the shark. |
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//then at a press of a button you could inflate the balloon and float away// - but then you are easy prey for sea eagles! |
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So attach the balloon to a harpoon. With one press of the trigger, the shark floats off into the sky, becoming easy prey for the sea eagles and allowing you to surf your way home. |
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Are you sure? A shark attached to a balloon might just float around, eating the Sea Eagles. |
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Well, either way, at least neither of them are eating you. |
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Still, if this bothers you, provide bathyspheres for the sea eagles so they can hide from the sharks under the waves. |
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