Shark repellants. They work until they don't.
On Sunday, diver Gary Johnson was killed by a Great White shark minutes after entering the water off Esperance in Western Australia’s south-east.
Johnson’s wife, Karen Milligan, was in the water when the White attacked.
“I tried to hit the tail of the shark but it did nothing,” she told The Australian.
Milligan’s emergency call was succinct.
“My husband’s been taken by a Great White,” she told police operators.
Equally ineffective was Johnson’s government-subsidised Shark Shield, a device that can be attached to a surfboard or ankle.
In a social media post from 2017, Johnson had praised the device.
“In my nine years diving in Esperance (most weekends – weather permitting) I have only seen one shark – a bronze whaler who showed absolutely no interest in me,” he wrote.
The state’s Fisheries Minister, Peter Tinley, admitted the Shark Shields weren’t “fail-safe.”
“Nine out of times it does work,” he said.
Shark repellants do present an interesting case given their effectiveness is rarely tested.
Do you remember Modom’s $250 shark leash, built with magnets from New Jersey-based SharkDefense, a company that also sold a Batman-style shark repellant spray.
“What happened here is essentially the rarest of shark encounters,” co-founder Nathan Garrison said.
And Shark Shields?
They work until they don’t.
This abalone diver, Peter Clarkson, also from Esperance, praised Shark Shields in a testimony on the company’s website only to be killed by two Whites in South Australia.
It’s unknown whether he was wearing the device or whether or not it was switched on.
Same with Johnson although you would think he’d flick the switch when he jumped in the water.
Hits by sharks in the pretty coastal hamlet aren’t a rarity.
In 2017, seventeen-year-old surfer Laeticia Brouwer died after being mauled by a Great White at a popular wave in Esperance called Kelpies.
In 2014, surfer Sean Pollard lost an arm and both hands in an attack during a solo sesh at Wylie Bay.
Meanwhile, police divers continue the search for Johnson’s body.
I have a shark shield.
It gives you a sense of security.
100 percent effective, obviously not.
However this link is very convincing.
https://youtu.be/02-IZMwPin4
I do believe it works most of the time.
We might not have whites but we do have very sharky waters in south Florida.
Had a small bull nearly bite in chest high water.
He turned around after I tried to smash him while I was standing with the tip of the board.
After that I bought shark shield.
I feel it’s better to be as safe as possible.
I get it. Besides anecdotal accounts that test seemed to be the only thing I could find in the matter.
That was a decade ago and from memory. Not exactly conclusive by any means.
I did once drop it in on the biggest Thresher I’ve seen of the California coast. The fish was circling the boat for about 10 mins, attracted by tuna blood coming out of the scuppers. It took off immediately. Anecdotal.
I’m by no means pushing the product.
I do *feel* it’s somewhat effective and not user friendly.
Well, almost no surfers are ever attacked by a shark, so the odds of selling something to surfers based on its shark repellent qualities are pretty good. The thing is, how would you ever know if it worked or not?
Divers off Esperance, another matter entirely.
https://m.news24.com/SouthA…
Looks like they Orcas didn’t get their protection money and they letting the Sharks back into the bay.
https://youtu.be/pjvQFtlNQ-M
I’m really enjoying reading all the posts about guy’s being shocked by their shark Shields while surfing. I think that’s hilarious!
If anyone has any utube footage please post up the link.
I cannot stop laughing just thinking how stupid you must look
I once went skinny dipping with the Mrs at a beach down in Esperance which I thought was empty only to be greeted by a bus full of tourists coming off the track as soon as we packed to leave pretty close call, anyways shark repellents are placebos.
What is there to complain about? Dance with the devil in his own habit and be prepared to pay your entrance fee.
Sharks aren’t “the devil” mate, they’re just big animals, and the huge majority of ’em don’t give a fuck about ya. You’re in massively more danger from your own behaviour.
Nick? Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?…. I did, a white cruised me in broken head national park, middle of the day, it was the size of a small car and if it wanted a midday feed then and there it was entirely up to the animal itself. You’re right, my behavior put me in that danger the moment I got into the water. Not quite as blatant as diving in Esperance but every time I go into the water I know the risks and live with that, as do you. The devil is a religious character derived from the genesises of guilt known as the Bible or the Koran to name a few…. it can also be a metaphor.
I’ve seen and been in the water with heaps of sharks, sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. I’ve also driven drunk. The latter is way more dangerous. That’s what I mean by behaviour. You’re a bigger risk to yourself than is any shark.
Interesting hypothesis. Tell me though, (between you and me) and the others here….. in retrospect, what scares you the most? Near death by action of you own, or at the hand of a beast?… and why.
What the fuck are you talking about, “hypothesis”, “retrospect”? Wake up to yourself buddy, we’re actually alive ya know. This is all actually happening. You could walk out the door and be hit by a truck, though you probably won’t be. But what scares me is a slow death by cancer at the age of 85. I don’t want to have to find that much courage.
I’m the walking dead Sir Nick.
https://mobile.abc.net.au/n…
I own one. Unfortunately it’s almost impossible to use without getting shocked.
I read about tests done with it where it was attached to a tuna as bait underwater and attached to a trolled seal decoy.
When used on the tuna it was somewhat successful but on the seal decoy it managed to turn the shark away on every attack attempt while a control decoy without the device was hit multiple times. Small data set, but it’s a start.
Seat belts and air bags aren’t 100% effective, but I use them everytime I get in a car.
I find getting shocked constantly really messes with the sesh.
A friend of mine painted the underneath of his fishing kayak black and white zeebra stripes as a type of repellant. He got hit by a White around a year later on that kayak.
When you get shocked are you surprised?
Do you shake a little? Throw your arms around?
Sorry but It’s just too funny.
I think Chas needs product test one
It’s hilarious. I’ll let out a yelp and recoil as one does when shocked. Onlookers have puzzled looks on their faces.
This is excellent!
I’m buying one as a present for my g/f right now.
The joy I’ll gain from keeping her ( a undisclosed percentage of the time) safe from shark attack will be nothing compared to the laughter I will get from watching her get zapped!
So your tittle says he was wearing it, but then in the print you say “Its not known if he was wearing it, or if it was switched on”. SO what is it??? Can’t just make up shit..Oh wait.
You are most likely to get shocked by it while on land or a boat. Something about grounding.
Most people wait till they are in the water to turn it on to avoid being shocked. Sometimes you forget for a while.
Actually they don’t work unless submerged in the water. But that still does not explain why the article was made misleading to its readers?
If you and it are wet, standing in wet sand or on a wet deck it’ll shock the fuck outta you even sometimes when you go to turn it on or off.
That’s correct, sorry i meant to say they are not effective unless submerged under water.
Not much risk in the air.
Re-read it. Johnson was wearing one. Clarkson was never confirmed.
No more made up than the government report on shark shield effectiveness.
I’ve been convinced that climate bondage is real and just turned off my mains power, just drove my car off a cliff I’m at 22 percent on this fone but just purchased a solar charger,hopefully if we all do this something will actually change but I think y’all are weak gen xers poisoned by ecstasy and greed.
Guilty as charged.
Def the last two lines!
No, you’ve been poisoned.
Your the one with the Audi.
Fuken Nazi sled.
How right you are bexy…. paid that fucking sedan off and it gets recalled because they got busted for fake engineering “green”…. I was forced to take 16K back because I couldn’t sell the car with faulty exhaust. Fuck Audi. The fucks then offered me a “deal” on a new one using the old one as a down payment, fancy that? What great business, they get busted and I get the short end of a THEIR deal.
Capitalisming! You should see how boned up they get about disasters, natural or otherwise. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska was great because it ‘poured’ an amount of money in to the region that otherwise wouldn’t have gone there. And the oil was already covered on insurance. Win/win!
If you want to call ecstasy poison count me in as a poison lover extraordinaire.
Yeah,they’re fuken great.
But you don’t need as much as you think.
You can tell the victims on here
They’re every word drips with depleted serotonin.
And those wacky greens think kids will want their pills tested. They tested em the night before.
And they were the bomb!!
At least the device gave him piece of mind. Or maybe it gave the shark pieces of his mind. Either way it kind of worked.
Too much.
Not surprising.