How Do You Avoid a Shark Attack? The Answer Could Be… LED Lights?!

by

As a seasoned gamer and marine enthusiast who has spent countless hours exploring the virtual depths of underwater worlds, I can’t help but be captivated by the real-life research being conducted by Dr. Laura Ryan and Professor Nathan Hart. Having battled my fair share of sharks in video games, it’s fascinating to see scientists trying to understand these creatures from their perspective.

Over the past few years, researchers Dr. Laura Ryan and Professor Nathan Hart from Macquarie University in New South Wales, Australia, have been working on devising strategies to deceive sharks. This research has taken place in Mossel Bay, South Africa, an area famed for its large seal populations which attract white sharks seeking prey. Notably, white sharks are also infamous for attacking humans, accounting for the majority of all shark attacks. The aim of this study was to understand why these incidents occur and find a means to exploit this knowledge against them. Their findings were recently published in the journal Current Biology.

To accomplish this, researchers aimed at perceiving the world as a white shark does, in order to decipher what motivates them to attack humans and devise innovative methods to prevent such incidents. Firstly, they needed to grasp how humans appear to a hunting shark.

For More on Sharks

Cocaine Sharks! Scientists Find Sharks Contaminated with Cocaine off the Coast of BrazilAre Shark Attacks on the Rise? Here’s What the Data SaysScientists Just Discovered a Brand New Species of Shark Ruling Their Corner of the Deep

What the world looks like to a shark

Mature white sharks primarily feed on seals and have honed their hunting skills effectively. They lie in wait at depths and keep an eye out for seals swimming above. Once they spot a potential prey, they strike from below, frequently propelling themselves out of the water in a swift and powerful leap, with the seal trapped within their lethal jaws. It has been proposed that white sharks may mistake humans for seals, leading them to attack us. While it’s challenging to comprehend how a shark perceives its surroundings without being one ourselves, scientific studies appear to support this theory of confusion.

In the 1975 summer hit movie Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, the initial scenes showcase the mysterious, dark depths of the ocean. A group of young people are depicted enjoying themselves on the beach, socializing near a fire, playing music, and having a good time. However, the peaceful ambiance is soon shattered when a few of them decide to venture into the sea. The camera then focuses back on the water, and we see one of them from below, merely a dark figure swimming against the moonlight, with all distinctive features concealed. This represents how a shark perceives its surroundings, observing only shadows on a speckled surface.

A shark’s eye structure shares many similarities with ours; it consists of a cornea, lens, retina, iris, and pupil much like our own eyes. Inside their eyes are cones and rods, but unlike humans, they only have one type of cone, suggesting that their color vision may not be as rich or varied as ours. Essentially, for sharks, the world is perceived as a series of contrasting dark shapes moving against lighter backgrounds.

Beyond color perception, sharks struggle with detail compared to human vision. They excel at spotting objects from afar but lack the ability to differentiate those objects easily. In a separate investigation, scientists captured footage of seals and humans swimming underwater, then altered these videos to simulate a shark’s perspective. The results showed that for a shark, it is nearly impossible to distinguish between seals, people, surfboards, or kayaks. Inexperienced young sharks may find this especially challenging.

How LED lights could deter shark attacks

As a gamer navigating the underwater world, I’ve noticed that silhouettes serve as key visual cues for predators like sharks, helping them spot potential prey. This is due to the fact that light coming from above is usually brighter than light coming from below in the ocean. So, even if an object is brightly colored, it appears dark when viewed from below. To avoid being spotted, some deep-sea creatures have evolved an ingenious strategy: they emit their own light through bioluminescence, a technique known as counterillumination. This tactic is widely used by mid-ocean critters to blend in with the surrounding light, making them less visible to predators lurking from below.

In this innovative research, they managed to produce a comparable outcome by attaching a series of LED lights onto the base of seal-shaped foam floats. White sharks use the silhouette for identifying prey, and the LED light strips distort this silhouette. To successfully blend in, it’s not about being completely unseen; instead, it’s about appearing “non-edible.” The study involved placing numerous decoys in the water, each with a distinct LED light pattern on the underside to determine the most effective camouflage technique.

In any body of water, it’s possible that anything you add could draw a shark. Through meticulous testing, we’ve identified the ideal brightness level which functions similar to a counterillumination device, obscuring the shape of the object and apparently discouraging sharks from coming closer, as explained in a video statement by Hart.

Scientists have chosen to concentrate their investigations primarily on white sharks due to their significant role in attacks, but they are also intrigued by how various types of shark respond to changes in lighting conditions and how other marine creatures employ light for self-protection. Regarding a potential light-based device to deter sharks, researchers are now developing advanced prototypes that could potentially be incorporated into the base of a surfboard. By utilizing specific light patterns, this innovation may eventually make it possible to return to the water without fear.

Read More

2024-11-14 23:46