The International Shark Attack File maintained by the Florida Museum of Natural History is the only scientifically recognized database of all attacks by the various species of sharks in the seas of the world. It includes beyond 6,800 cases investigated from 1500 to today. Last year they registered 137 including 73 not provoked by human beings and 39 instead linked to a provocation. Another 4 saw as many boats under attack by large predators and one is linked to the practice of “scavenging” on the drifting carcasses of whales. Another twenty or so cases are of dubious nature. The news of the last few hours comes from the Red Sea: according to the Egyptian Ministry of the Environment last week two women were attacked and killed by a shark in the Sahl Hasheesh area, south of Hurghada.
Project SharkEye, artificial intelligence to protect sharks from people. And the people from the sharks
EMANUELE CAPONE
The Red Sea is a hugely popular tourist destination, where sharks are common but rarely attack people who swim within permitted limits. As it happens in many other areas of the world that constitute its habitat, especially in tropical and temperate zones. There are similar attacks in those parts in 2010, 2015 and 2018. Yet today there are some technologies – on many of which, however, there is the need for further independent scientific tests – which could help both in these tourist contexts and for those who practice diving and love to explore seas and oceans further offshore and in depth.
SharkBanz 2
He points out some of them Interesting Engineering that starts from a baptized wearable accessory SharkBanz 2: uses a patented magnetic technology to stimulate the ampoules of Lorenzini, special sense organs possessed by elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) and by some species of Chondrostei and Dipnoi, which allow them to identify magnetic fields, prey and navigation routes. With the aim, of course, of disorientarli. The range of use appears narrow but it could make sense for chance encounters. The School of Coastal Environment Department of Marine Science at Coastal Carolina University has certified its effectiveness on various species of sharks such as the hammerhead shark, the bull shark, the great white shark or the Australian fringed shark. It costs about ninety euros.
Freedom+ Surf
Another tool is the Freedom+ Surf by Ocean Guardian, developed by former surfer Tom Carroll. It installs on the tables and actually works on a mechanism similar to that of the SharkBanz 2. There are also variants for boats, fishing lines and diving suits. Using the proprietary Shark Shield Technology, the device generates a powerful three-dimensional electric field which causes muscle spasms in sharks, without causing them any harm, and drives them away. Obviously, little is known about how much and how these devices affect the physical condition of the specimens and it is one of the most slippery aspects of these systems. Of the various studies carried out with the device, in any case, one gave particularly comforting results: of 322 encounters with 41 specimens of great white sharks with some containers with lures, only in one case the shark was able to get too close to the devices. But it was precisely bait and not human beings.
SharkStopper
SharkStopperwhich activates itself when it is immersed in water and turns off when it is taken out, focuses instead on acoustic frequencies: it emits some that seem to make a dozen of the most dangerous shark species escape. Apparently, she makes a sound that emulates that of hunting killer whales in the wild, oceanic super predators and among the few that can sometimes feed on white sharks as well. It has an autonomy of four hours and an action range of 5-10 meters. Of this box that weighs like a smartphone there are various types for adults or children or able to be secured to diving equipment. But it still seems to be in development, there are none to buy.
Patrolling with drones and barriers
Better, however, to leave aside the shark repellent sprays used since the mid-1900s: today proposed in different formulations – and with a more than doubtful efficacy – they have been abandoned for years in favor of magnetic devices that target the Lorenzini ampoules, the specialized receptors that sharks have on the snout and with which they decode the underwater electromagnetic fields.
Another approach, indirect but perhaps more sensible and which avoids the encounter with the animal at the root, is that of patrolling. For example through i drones, which would allow lifeguards to raise the alarm on the proximity of a specimen. The Australian government is thinking about this sort of air control, which has now employed a fleet of about eighty drones since 2017 on the most popular beachesjust one of the many initiatives to limit this kind of unpleasant, and sometimes bloody, events.
Also in Australia, the Smart Drumline, where Smart stands for “Shark Management Alert in Real Time”: a system anchored to the seabed consisting of a series of containers with bait connected to control units in turn connected to the GPS, capable of notifying the authorities when a shark has taken the bite to a hook. Even if the matter seems a bit cumbersome: when this happens, a special magnet attached to the line is released, able to activate the communication unit. At that point – in about half an hour in the first experiments – a trained team arrives that captures the shark, applies a marker-geolocator (useful for re-identifying the specimen through the Australian Shark Monitoring Network and collecting data on its movement) and releases it offshore. A first such barrier was installed in Gracetown, Western Australia.