As Shark Week comes to a close, it seems fitting that a special alloy to keep humans out of sharks' way is advancing.
Several years ago a New Jersey company called Shark Defense won an international smart gear contest with a metal attachment for fishing hooks that naturally keeps sharks away. The metal is actually an electropositive metal that produces voltage when it comes into contact with seawater. Sharks don't like the metal because the ampullae in their noses--which is how sharks detect heartbeats in prey--are sensitive to the voltage.
Now, as Eric Bland reports on Discovery News, Shark Defense is planning to make actual hooks out of this metal. Company cofounder Eric Stroud tells Bland that when a shark encounters the metal, it's the equivalent of shining a flashlight in its eyes. A scientist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science has tested the alloy to show that it does work.
Although the company won't divulge the exact metal makeup of their shark-repelling gear, my hope is that we can learn more about how to use the metal effectively, especially in fishing operations. While I wouldn't want a scenario where sharks are constantly encountering the voltage, a little bit could save them from untimely ends.
Photo: A shark checks out a boat in Cape Town. Credit: Tim Sheerman-Case.
Tags: Conservation, Green Tech, Materials, Water
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