Shark Repellent

[PurpleTentacle]

A friend of mine (a chemical engineering grad student) sent this article to me about a possible chemical repellent that seems to work on sharks.

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/8251/8251critter.html

It may be a little early to get excited about it, but it sounds pretty promising for you diver folk.

 

[myopsida]

There is a simple way of reducing your risk of shark attack by 50% . . . always dive with a buddy.

 

[TPOTH]

There is a simple way of reducing your risk of shark attack by 50% . . . always dive with a buddy.

nice! And you can tip the odds in your favour but offering a book to your best dive buddy (awww... those nasty paper cuts...)

Note to self: Always refuse to go diving with M

TPOTH

 

[PurpleTentacle]

My boss (a scuba instructor) tells me you can raise those odds to 95%. He tells his students that while the traditional striking of the shark on the snout with the blunt end of your knife will occasionally stun the shark momentarily, the real way to survive an attack is to stab your buddy and swim away.

 

[TPOTH]

My boss (a scuba instructor) tells me you can raise those odds to 95%. He tells his students that while the traditional striking of the shark on the snout with the blunt end of your knife will occasionally stun the shark momentarily, the real way to survive an attack is to stab your buddy and swim away.

Shark-related humour (or is it?) always cracks me up
Just pray that your dive buddy didn't have the same instructor.... good old prisoner's dilemna. Safest even, stab your buddy on the boat and chuck the corpse (or soon to be) in the water. That should keep the sharkies busy while you go scuba (scubing? scubaing?) around...

TPOTH

 

[erich orser]

Quick shark repellent trivia:

The first effective shark repellent was designed to keep sharks from setting off sea mines moored up and down the Eastern Seaboard during WWII. It was created by a team of chemists with the OSS led by famed future TV chef Julia Child before her transfer to OSS operations in China, where she became an active-duty agent before the end of the war. Yes, Julia Child was a secret agent AND one of the inventors of shark repellent.

 

[trademespots]

i wonder what would happen if you used both of these devices in conjunction?

On the complete opposite note - I've heard of a shark attractor, for those that are inclined to photograph them. Apparently there's a machine that can emulate the sound pulsations of a seal or turtle and attract all kinds of sharks - I can't completely remember the details, but I saw it on National Geographic once.