Striped wetsuits may deter hungry sharks

By WAYNE THOMPSON

When it comes to dressing for fun in the water, divers and surfers are a sombre lot - they prefer wetsuits to be black or navy blue.

But they may be wiser to add some colour or diagonal stripes to the suits, says a Massey University expert - not in fashion but in animal behaviour.

Senior lecturer Arnold Chamove says divers and surfers and their boards look like prime shark food - seals.

Cutting a dash with a patterned vest he is developing could be their salvation when a cunning predator of the deep comes too close for comfort.

"Not only could we dress them in something that doesn't look like a seal, but also in something that says, 'Warning, watch out - this is problematic'," says Dr Chamove.

He has spent years studying how animals and insects warn others off with their patterns - for example, stripes on a bumble bee.

His previous work includes developing the Gallagher electrical tape fence, which is striped like a bee, warning animals not to touch.

Once a horse touches the tape and feels a shock, it recognises that tape afterwards and the fence does its job even without a current running through it.

Dr Chamove says his research to discover a particular pattern and colour that sharks recognise as danger is still confined to small fish such as guppies and goldfish.

"I have not worked with sharks yet - and I'm not calling for volunteers to put it to the test."

But his research on animals that are easier to work with - chickens and cattle - has produced a formula of which stripes animals avoid.

Most animals are colour-blind, but fish see colours. The ability to see certain colours in the sea diminishes with the light as you go deeper. Goldfish live in murky water so are good subjects for research into what colours scare fish.

Dr Chamove says that before anyone climbs into a shark tank to test his theory, he will paint chunks of meat with the appropriate food colouring, toss them in and see whether the sharks eatthem.

He says lack of a sponsor for the repellent research means progress is slow, but he is confident of success.

He can expect a strong overseas demand for the product, especially from Australia, South Africa and the United States.

New Zealand has had 53 shark attacks since 1852, nine of them fatal.

But the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File confirms 536 unprovoked shark attacks globally during the past decade, with up to 12 deaths a year.

The institute's record of clothing worn by victims shows 40 per cent had dull colours and 64.3 per cent no patterns.

The colour combination of black/grey and slate gear and clothing was worn by 68.8 per cent of victims, and other troublesome groupings were blue/aqua/turquoise, white/silver/talc and yellow/gold/khaki/lemon.

Warren Kelly, of Auckland wetsuit manufacturers Walrus, says black or navy are the preferred colours.

Veteran surfer and board-maker Wayne Parkes says surfers are aware that sharks may be nearby but not always seen.

However, he will stick to wearing his black wetsuit and keeping a lookout - rather than putting his faith in clothing said to repel sharks.

An Australian company has introduced a small electronic device to surround the wearer with an electrical field that affects a shark's central nervous system and causes it to turn away.