The Great White Problem and possible solution!

[IPORTER]

Ground-breaking technology is being tested in South Africa to keep great white sharks at bay from beaches and save the lives of both people and sharks

Scientists have installed a 100m cable that emits an electronic field in the water in a bay near Cape Town. An electronic tickle to their sensitive noses is something great white sharks can’t stand.

The development, which will be watched closely in shark-infested resorts around the world, aims to turn the creatures away from popular swimming areas,

If successful, the cables could replace the nets on South Africa’s coastline and save the hundreds of sharks that get caught up in the nets every year.

The experiment was developed on the fact that sharks locate their prey by their heartbeat, as opposed to the widely-believed ‘trail of blood’.

Hundreds of electro-receptors on sharks’ noses sense the electronic fields made by muscle contractions. The cable’s electronic field aims to create an uncomfortable sensation for the sharks’ sensitive snouts.

The low-frequency, low-power cable was installed at Glencairn beach on Friday, chosen because of its popularity with great white sharks.

A team of shark-spotters will monitor the progress of the cable at the beach.

[Hash]

Lets hope this will work.

[Paul3]

Until then I make sure I can swim faster than at least one other person in the water.

[Ken Gargett]

they have tried stuff like that out here with limited success, i believe, but hopefully improvements in the tech might men it will succeed. fingers crossed.