Sharkbanz Research Test Highlights - Bull Shark Deterrent

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The Sharkbanz Team, in association with Discovery Canada and Sharkdefense Technologies, LLC., conducted a comparative study with Sharkbanz products on wild bull sharks in Bimini, Bahamas. The bull shark is responsible for a substantial number of attacks in the USA and globally. The team’s goal was to test the hypothesis that Sharkbanz technology creates an effective barrier and deterrent, thus reducing bull shark attacks even under the most extreme test scenarios.

Methods

Between 5 and 15 bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) were present during the experimental trials. The study consisted of trials that simulated a worst case scenario. Each trial was conducted with the experimental treatment (i.e. Sharkbanz or Sharkleash), and then replicated exactly with the control (i.e. no Sharkbanz). Bait chunks (Bonita, Sarda sarda) were intermittently distributed around the human model (i.e. Bernie) to continuously stimulate and attract the sharks to interact with the treatment and control. During all trials bait chunks (approximately 300 g) were placed into the human model at the foot (i.e. inside the sock) to attract the sharks to bite. Various treatments were tested including control (i.e. no Sharkbanz or Sharkleash), Sharkbanz, or Sharkleash.

Results

A total of 25 trials were conducted with the treatments (i.e. Sharkbanz and Sharkleash) and control resulting in 2 hr 38 min of soak time exposed to the bull sharks with a total of 1235 approaches and observed behaviors. During the 2 hr 19 min with the treatment, there were zero attacks on the human model. Trials with the control were stopped once the human model was attacked. During the 18 minutes of trials with the control, the human model was attacked approximately every 46 seconds.

Conclusion

The current preliminary study is the first conclusive comparative study demonstrating the effectiveness of Sharkbanz products against bull sharks. The results suggest that wearing a Sharkbanz or using a Sharkleash significantly reduces the probability of bull shark interactions (i.e. attack or bite as defined in the experiment) in a similar situation where a human leg is suspended in the water column from a floating object (like a surf board). Although the current study does not meet all of the demands of a rigorous scientific study, and contains temporal variation between control and treatment trials, and not all trials were identical, the data clearly demonstrated overwhelming evidence that the magnetic technology applied in the Sharkbanz products created an effective deterrent to bull sharks even when enticed to feed. In fact, variation in the experimental trials were intended to explore the limits of the effectiveness and as such only resulted in more compelling evidence of the Sharkbanz effectiveness. Future rigorous studies are planned for 2018 that meet the demands of a rigorous scientific study and will be submitted for peer review. The data from this study is currently being reviewed by an independent researcher and conforms with results from other peer reviewed scientific publications on the effects of very strong permanent magnets on shark behavior, (O’Connell et al., 2010; 2011a; 2011b), and more recently relative to bull sharks (O’Connell et al., 2014).

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