Personal electric deterrents can reduce shark bites from the three species responsible for the most fatal interactions

The frequency of unprovoked shark bites is increasing worldwide, leading to a growing pressure for mitigation measures to reduce shark-bite risk while maintaining conservation objectives. Personal shark deterrents are a promising and non-lethal strategy that can protect ocean users, but few have been independently and scientifically tested. In Australia, bull (Carcharhinus leucas), tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier), and white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) are responsible for the highest number of bites and fatalities. We tested the effects of two electric deterrents (Ocean Guardian's Freedom+ Surf and Freedom7) on the behaviour of these three species. The surf product reduced the probability of bites by 54% across all three species. The diving product had a similar effect on tiger shark bites (69% reduction) but did not reduce the frequency of bites from white sharks (1% increase), likely because the electrodes were placed further away from the bait. Electric deterrents also increased the time for bites to occur, and frequency of reactions and passes for all species tested. Our findings reveal that both Freedom+ Surf and Freedom7 electric deterrents affect shark behaviour and can reduce shark-bite risk for water users, but neither product eliminated the risk of shark bites entirely. The increasing number of studies showing the ability of personal electric deterrents to reduce shark-bite risk highlights personal protection as an effective and important part of the toolbox of shark-bite mitigation measures.

Magnetoreception and magnetic navigation in fishes: a half century of discovery

As the largest and most diverse vertebrate group on the planet, fishes have evolved an impressive array of sensory abilities to overcome the challenges associated with navigating the aquatic realm. Among these, the ability to detect Earth's magnetic field, or magnetoreception, is phylogenetically widespread and used by fish to guide movements over a wide range of spatial scales ranging from local movements to transoceanic migrations. A proliferation of recent studies, particularly in salmonids, has revealed that fish can exploit Earth's magnetic field not only as a source of directional information for maintaining consistent headings, but also as a kind of map for determining location at sea and for returning to natal areas. Despite significant advances, much about magnetoreception in fishes remains enigmatic. How fish detect magnetic fields remains unknown and our understanding of the evolutionary origins of vertebrate magnetoreception would benefit greatly from studies that include a wider array of fish taxa. The rich diversity of life-history characteristics that fishes exhibit, the wide variety of environments they inhabit, and their suitability for manipulative studies, make fishes promising subjects for magnetoreception studies.

Variable response to electric shark deterrents in bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas

Although relatively rare, human-shark interactions and sharks bites are increasing globally, which has led to the development of various mitigation measures. Electric shark deterrents (ESDs) have, so far, been the most effective personal deterrents, but have only been scientifically tested on one of the species most frequently responsible for shark bites, i.e. white shark (Carcharodon carcharias). We tested the effectiveness of five ESDs (E-Shark Force, NoShark, Rpela v2, Freedom + Surf, Freedom + Surf—Shortboard) on bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas, over a period of 21 days in September 2019, in New Caledonia. Standardised bait was attached 30 cm below an experimental board that had an active ESD for up to 15 min, or until a bull shark touched the bait or the board. We compared the numbers of baits taken, numbers of passes and reactions around the board, as well as the distance between the sharks and the board among ESDs and against a control board with bait and no active ESD. The Freedom + Surf was the most effective ESD, reducing the amounts of baits taken by 42.3%, while the Rpela v2 and Freedom + Surf—Shortboard also significantly reduced the number of baits taken by 16.5% and 16.2% respectively. Mean distance between sharks and the bait was not affected by the ESDs, but the number of approaches and the proportion of reactions were both significantly higher when the Freedom + Surf was active compared to other ESDs. The effectiveness of all ESDs decreased over time, with the likelihood of the bait being taken increasing and the number of approaches and distance between sharks and the bait decreasing. Our findings show that the ability of ESDs to deter bull shark varies between products, with the Freedom + Surf resulting in the most behavioural changes, followed by the Rpela v2 and Freedom + Surf—Shortboard. However, none of the products tested completely stopped sharks from taking the bait.

Effectiveness of five personal shark-bite deterrents for surfers

The number of shark-human interactions and shark bites per capita has been increasing since the 1980s, leading to a rise in measures developed to mitigate the risk of shark bites. Yet many of the products commercially available for personal protection have not been scientifically tested, potentially providing an exaggerated sense of security to the people using them. We tested five personal shark deterrents developed for surfers (Shark Shield Pty Ltd [Ocean Guardian] Freedom+ Surf, Rpela, SharkBanz bracelet, SharkBanz surf leash, and Chillax Wax) by comparing the percentage of baits taken, distance to the bait, number of passes, and whether a shark reaction could be observed. We did a total of 297 successful trials at the Neptune Islands Group Marine Park in South Australia, during which 44 different white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) interacted with the bait, making a total of 1413 passes. The effectiveness of the deterrents was variable, with the Freedom+ Surf affecting shark behaviour the most and reducing the percentage of bait taken from 96% (relative to the control board) to 40%. The mean distance of sharks to the board increased from 1.6 ± 0.1 m (control board) to 2.6 ± 0.1 m when the Freedom Surf+ was active. The other deterrents had limited or no measureable effect on white shark behavour. Based on our power analyses, the smallest effect size that could be reliably detected was ∼15%, which for the first time provides information about the effect size that a deterrent study like ours can reliably detect. Our study shows that deterrents based on similar principles—overwhelming a shark’s electroreceptors (the ampullae of Lorenzini) with electrical pulses—differ in their efficacy, reinforcing the need to test each product independently. Our results will allow private and government agencies and the public to make informed decisions about the use and suitability of these five products.

Size-dependent avoidance of a strong magnetic anomaly in Caribbean spiny lobsters

On a global scale, the geomagnetic field varies predictably across Earth's surface, providing animals that migrate long distances with a reliable source of directional and positional information that can be used to guide their movements. In some locations, however, magnetic minerals in Earth's crust generate an additional field that enhances or diminishes the overall field, resulting in unusually steep gradients of field intensity within a limited area. How animals respond to such magnetic anomalies is unclear. The Caribbean spiny lobster, Panulirus argus, is a benthic marine invertebrate that possesses a magnetic sense and is likely to encounter magnetic anomalies during migratory movements and homing. As a first step toward investigating whether such anomalies affect the behavior of lobsters, a two-choice preference experiment was conducted in which lobsters were allowed to select one of two artificial dens, one beneath a neodymium magnet and the other beneath a non-magnetic weight of similar size and mass (control). Significantly more lobsters selected the control den, demonstrating avoidance of the magnetic anomaly. In addition, lobster size was found to be a significant predictor of den choice; lobsters that selected the anomaly den were significantly smaller as a group than those that chose the control den. Taken together, these findings provide additional evidence for magnetoreception in spiny lobsters, raise the possibility of an ontogenetic shift in how lobsters respond to magnetic fields, and suggest that magnetic anomalies might influence lobster movement in the natural environment.