Beachgoers wearing electronic technology while in the water could potentially save their lives, a new study on shark bites reveals.
Australian scientists recently found that electronic deterrents could save 1,063 people from getting bitten by sharks across Australia by 2066 — about 24 people a year.
The appropriate use of personal electronic deterrents could avert more than 3,000 “incidents” across Australia over the next four-plus decades, the scientists said.
“We predicted that up to 1,063 people could potentially avoid being bitten across Australia by 2066 if all people used the devices,” the researchers wrote in the article called, “Predicting potential future reduction in shark bites on people.”
“Avoiding death and injury of people over the next half-century is of course highly desirable, especially when considering the additional costs associated with the loss of recreational, commercial and tourism revenue potentially in the tens to hundreds of millions of dollars following clusters of shark-bite events,” the scientists added in the article published in Royal Society Open Science.
Wearing an electronic deterrent — which uses an electric field to repel sharks — is currently the only type of personal deterrent that can substantially reduce the probability of shark bites, the researchers said. They can go around ankles, go on surfboards and on scuba gear.
In Australia, where shark bites are relatively common, the Australian Shark Attack File database has nearly 1,000 reported incidents of a shark bite on humans from 1900 to 2020.
Of the people who got bit, 194 people died, or about 20%. The most commonly reported species responsible for attacks was the white shark (309 attacks), followed by tiger shark (203 attacks) and bull shark (137 attacks).
“Across Australia we could expect a mean of up to 24 people year who could avoid being bitten by a shark if everyone engaging in water recreation chose to wear a suitably donned electronic deterrent,” the researchers wrote.
“While a mean maximum of 1,063 people out of a projected population size of over 49 million people in Australia by 2066 is a miniscule proportion (0.002%) of people potentially able to avert shark bite (even given 30% would be expected to die), these numbers reflect an important reduction in human suffering and death,” they added.
Since 2012, there have been four attacks by white sharks on humans along the coast of Cape Cod, including one fatal attack, the first in Massachusetts since 1936.
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April 05, 2021 at 04:22AM
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Shark bites averted: Beachgoers wearing electronic tech could save lives - Boston Herald
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