WA Gov to subsidise “Proven shark deterrent”!

Only 1000 available! Hurry and get subsidy or die in mouth of Great White.

A few moments ago, I watched a sturdy silver-haired man from Ocean Guardian (formerly Shark Shield) spruiking his “proven” shark deterrent in front of TV cameras at Bondi Beach.

Twenty minutes earlier, my mailbox had been sprayed with press releases from Ocean Guardian and from the Western Australian state government.

The company is in full PR mode for two reasons.

One, because the WA government announced it would add the Ocean  Guardian surf+ to its list of go-away-shark devices and spend 200k on $200 subsidies for 1000 surfers.

“University research shows the device, even in extreme circumstances, significantly reduces the risk of shark interactions.”

The research was undertaken by “highly regarded Associate Professor Charlie Huveneers” a man who once wrote,

Whether or not shark nets actually reduce the risk of an attack is also a tricky question, although there has only been one fatal attack at a netted beach since the NSW meshing program began in 1937.

One fatal in almost a century? It ain’t that tricky of a question.

And, two, because Ocean Guardian’s trying to raise six-mill in cash via an IPO (twenty-five million shares at twenty cents apiece) despite losing almost a million bucks in the six months to December 2017 and with a device whose effectiveness depends on the “motivational state of sharks” and using technology they haven’t had a patent on since 2016.

Maybe my rose-tinted glasses have faded a little but it reeks of high farce.

An analogy.

Imagine Western Australia has been overrun by killer bees. Important players in the world’s ecosystem but there’s a colony of ’em around Margaret River that makes going outside a potentially lethal adventure.

They’re easily killed.

A few housebound people get on Twitter and pray for the killer bees’ salvation and that a cull would be barbaric.

The government responds by subsidising special space suits that make it safe to go outside.

Same same. IMO.