Anti-Shark Wetsuits - The Pattern Of Attack

[ricki]

A childhood hero of mine, Dr. Walter Stark apparently did extensive experimentation with impact of striped suits on shark interactions. Dr. Stark along with Dr. Robert Schroeder, both RSMAS researchers back in the day, authored "Something Rich And Strange." It described reef research and adventures throughout the Caribbean a hot topic for me in my teens.



Anyway, more about Dr. Stark's experiences and derivation of patterned suits below:

"Sharks, Snakes and Experts

Walter Starck

For some reason Gray Reef Sharks in the central Pacific are especially aggressive and a number of divers have been attacked. After several unpleasant experiences there in the early 70's I was inspired to come up with something which might deter them. This was the banded wetsuit.

The banded wetsuit as an anti-shark device achieved some notoriety and became a subject of controversy as to its effectiveness. The story affords some interesting insights into the behavior of both sharks and humans. It begins in Panama where Dr. Ira Rubinoff of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute told me how predatory Caribbean reef fishes held in large tanks with sea snakes from the Pacific would try to eat the venomous snakes and frequently die as a result. Pacific reef fishes, however, wouldn't bother the snakes. There are no sea snakes in the Caribbean so it appeared that fishes normally living together with the snakes have learned to leave them alone.

Later in the western Pacific I noticed that the majority of sea snake species had banded color patterns. I knew that banded patterns were employed as warning coloration in various venomous creatures thus the idea of a banded pattern to warn off sharks was born. I first tried it in the Coral Sea on Gray Reef Sharks (Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos). They exhibited notable reticence to approach me nearly as close when wearing the banded suit. Subsequently I used the banded suit for extensive diving at Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, the Solomons, New Guinea and the Great Barrier Reef."

Continued at:
http://www.goldendolphin.com/WASdisk...it/wetsuit.htm