A shark fisherman just tested the efficacy of SharkBanz bracelets,  “Would I wear one and jump in the water with a bull shark?” 

The SharkBanz were literally resting against the sharks bodies… and they still fed as though there were no Sharkbanz on the baits.

Yesterday, if memory serves, I did promise to reveal the results of Joel Nancarrow’s independent testing of the SharkBanz magnetic bracelets, which use “patented magnetic technology” to scare sharks the hell away from your limbs. 

The raw magnets themselves are not particularly expensive for the type used, you can buy em off Amazon for a few bucks apiece, but Sharkbanz packages em real nice and in a bracelet you can wear on your wrist or ankle. 

The Sharkbanz bracelets are championed by shark attack survivor and trad wife Bethany Hamilton, which is something.

Do they work? Sharkbanz says oui, others are less excited by ’em.

Ten years back, consumer advocate magazine Choice reported, 

Sharkbanz told us its device has been shown to repel a range of sharks, including bull sharks and small tiger sharks, but they don’t recommend it for deterring great whites. Shark Shocker didn’t respond to our requests for information on its testing.

“While there have been no independent studies on the Sharkbanz or Shark Shocker devices, research into using magnets to repel sharks from commercial fishing lines has generally been inconclusive as to their effectiveness.

“Dr Carl Meyer, a shark expert at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, told us that while magnets could work in theory, he isn’t convinced a small magnetic band strapped to a leg would be effective enough.”

Back in December, the body of fifty-five-year-old triathlete Erica Fox, killed by a Great White, was identified by the Sharkbanz bracelet on her ankle.

Well, ol Joel Nancarrow, Australia’s premier shark hunter and a man, I believe, bringing a little real talk into the topic of Australia’s exploding shark numbers, has spent a month testing SharkBanz. 

Before the test he’d written, “If I’m confident in how (Sharkbanz) work, I’ll strap one on and jump in with a bull shark.”

The result? 

Yes and no.

Little bull shark, yep, the ones that are gonna tear you apart, not so much.

Writing on Facebook:

(And click on the link to watch the videos.)

Remember, these are my individual observations and I’m not qualified to perform scientific research to this degree, it’s all personal opinion only and based on my personal knowledge of sharks and their behavior that I have learned about over the years!!!!!!

You will see in the videos, the bandz 100% do work and the majority of the sharks show obvious signs of avoiding the bait with the bandz on them. They circles the baits, swam in on the baits and turned away when close and eventually, they all got sick of it and not a single one of the “smaller” sharks so much as had a nibble on the baits, so that is in my opinion, proof, that they work to a degree.

The unfortunate part is, the 2 bigger sharks, showed absolutely zero care that the band was on the bait, they both swam in and ate the bait without so much as a circle, they both carried the bait around in their mouths for a period of time until they were able to get it off the trace.

The bandz were literally resting against the sharks bodies 300mm max from the mouth/nose and they still fed as though there were no bandz on the baits.

This one hurts as the last fish in the video is an extremely large female bull shark that I would call 350kg +, these tests were done on the exact beach the young Swiss tourist was killed earlier in the season in front of her boyfriend by a bullshark, I let my emotions get the better of me and that’s the reason I made sure I knocked the big male over last night instead of trying to get more footage.

Seeing the bullshark feed without a care in the world was definitely disappointing as deterrents are largely designed with bullsharks in mind.

SOOO, do they work? Definitely.

Would I wear one and jump in the water with a bull like I planned on doing??, NOT A Fu?&$ng chance.

One thing I read on all of them and it genuinely concerned me, is that they all seem to get their products tested by marine biologists in Florida!!!! Why Florida? Great whites from South Africa have completely different feeding patterns and behaviors then they do in Australia. Do we know that bullsharks and whalers are any different? What works over there, may not work in our environment with our sharks, I’m if buying something to protect me against a 3m bullshark in Australia, I don’t want that product tested on 60kg whalers and hammerheads in Florida.

There needs to be some solid evidence of any deterrent working on multiple big bullsharks in Australian waters before i would personally ever consider recommending any of them.

I will keep using them on baits

And see if I ever get a promising response but unfortunately, it didn’t happen this time.

I’m sorry if it’s not what people wanted to see or hear but I will only ever be honest when it comes to people’s safety.

Once again, thank you to everyone that helped make this happen, and you guys are absolutely incredible, without you, we would not be able to have made this work so late in the season where it’s a lot harder to find fish.

Also once again, remember, this is my personal observation, remember, I have no qualifications and for all we know, I’m completely wrong, but those that wanted my opinion now have it!!!!!

(Oh, and before you move on, read Fred Pawle’s exclusive interview with Nancarrow here. Shark man don’t like media, in general, but he digs Fred who ain’t no pal of sharks, let’s be fair.)