A new “shark repellent” currently being tested in the Bahamas has been shown to ward off Carribbean reef, blacknose, lemon, and nurse sharks.
For those who don’t watch Shark Week religiously as I do, these four species are about as dangerous as, say, grasshoppers. So, until they prove this works on white, bull, tiger, oceanic whitetip and mako sharks, the only purpose it really serves to is to make your dives less exciting.
001 // Brian // 08.06.2004 // 11:18 AM
Cmon, at LEAST say:
“About as dangerous as grasshoppers with really big freakin teeth and a penchant for buggery.”
Though, you should go see the movie Open Water. I haven’t seen it, but everything I’ve read leads me to believe you’d enjoy it.
002 // Jeff Croft // 08.06.2004 // 11:27 AM
To be fair, lemon, nurse, and reef sharks have all been cited for biting humans — but very infrequently, and not in fatal attacks. I don’t believe a blacknose has ever been blamed for an attack. Anyway, my point remains — until they test the thing on big, dangerous sharks, it’s useless. The theory of it sounds interesting, though.
As for Open Water — I definitely want to see it. I’m not sure how great it will be as a movie, but they used real wild sharks in it, and I just think it will be interesting to see.
003 // Bryan Peters // 08.06.2004 // 1:36 PM
Did you ever see the “Adam West” Batman Movie? Batman and the Joker have a surf competition (in full costume with themed surf trunks) and a shark attacks Batman when he’s on a wave. He pulls out his “bat-shark-repellent” from his belt and sprays the shark. It might be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen…
004 // Andy Budd // 08.11.2004 // 6:50 AM
Yes, while they would probably give you a nasty nip if you tried to ride one up the beach, all these shark are pretty docile.
And being a diver myself (and one who actually worked on dive boats in Queensland where the events of the film took place), I’m really not looking forward to seeing open water. It gives me the willies just thinking about it.