CANBERRA, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Electronic deterrents could reduce shark bites by 60 percent, an Australian study has found.
The study conducted by researchers from Flinders University in South Australia (SA) found that the technology could save more than 1,000 Australians from being attacked by sharks over the next 50 years.
Authors Corey Bradshaw and Charlie Huveneers and their team trialed different deterrents in SA's Neptune Islands, an area known for great white shark tourism.
"Charlie and his group took mock surfboards and put these different bits of equipment on them, and then a bit of bait," Bradshaw told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) recently.
"The team tested which deterrents actually seemed to reduce the incidence of the shark taking a bite of the bait and it turns out only one of the electronic deterrents worked and all the other ones failed to have any effect."
He said that the device worked by disrupting the electro perception used by sharks.
"They have a very advanced system for detecting electric fields," Bradshaw said.
There were eight confirmed fatal shark attacks in Australia in 2020 and some of the attacks were by great white sharks. Enditem
