Finally, A Shark Repellent that Works

I’ve looked high and low for a shark repellent and finally found one worth mentioning. It’s a product called Shark Shield, which repels sharks with an electric field that induces spasms in the shark’s snouts. It’s used to repel sharks while participating in numerous water sports: “surfing, bodyboarding, longboarding, snorkelling, scuba
diving, free diving, spear fishing, commercial diving, kayaking, ocean swimming and boating or fishing.”

Shark Shield is provided by an Australian based company, of the same name, that specializes in manufacturing products that protect people from sharks. According to their website, Shark Shield is used by the Australian Elite Army, the South African Navy, the US Coast Guard, and is approved by NATO. It provides protection against all predatory shark species. Tiger sharks, Great Whites, Bull sharks, Makos, Bronze Whalers, and more are deterred by this product.

How Shark Shield Works

Here’s an illustration of how Shark Shield works for surfboards.

“The Surf unit is compact and lightweight and produces up to an eight meter shark safe zone. The unit can attach to all surfboards and weighs around 350 grams, and the less once in the water. The unit comes compete with mounting plate, deck grip and electrode tail. If you have more than one surfboard, mounting plates can be attached to numerous craft and the unit is then detached, using an Allen key, and reattached to another mounting plate. This Shark Shield Surf has a 7 hour rechargeable lithium battery.”

I talked with the head of the surf unit at the company, who told me a shark shield device for a surfboard would cost
$499. That’s not cheap, but it’s worth it, especially if you plan to surf in waters known to have shark attacks.

Here’s a video that provides more information about Shark Shield.