News Review: RAN to check out shark repellent | ADM Jun 2010

1 June 2010

A South Australian company expects international and local orders of its shark-deterring technology to climb with the device gaining provisional design acceptance from the Royal Australian Navy.

Shark Shield chairman Grant Price said the company had entered into an agreement with the Navy to supply its divers with the Shark Shield deterrent after Navy diver Able Seaman Paul de Gelder was attacked by a shark during a training exercise in Sydney Harbour in February last year.

The timing of the attack came soon after the release of South Australian coronial findings into the shark-related death of a University of Adelaide marine scientist.

The coronial investigation determined that employers are legally obligated to provide safe working environments - and that for divers, water-sport instructors and other water-related activities, effective shark deterrents should form part of those safety conditions.

Price said the RAN's clearance divers had tested the Shark Shield under a variety of conditions for seven months.

This includes compatibility testing with other combat equipment and communications systems, and the RAN has granted Provisional Design Acceptance pending completion of testing for its shark-repellent capabilities.

The Shark Shield is a 380-gram device that can fit into a person's hand and has an attached two-metre antenna.

It works by emitting electric impulses that cause great discomfort to sharks but have no effect on other marine creatures.

The impulse causes sharks discomfort at seven or eight metres and if the shark moves further into the field they experience muscle spasms that are enough to deter even attacking sharks.

Once the shark leaves the vicinity of the field there are no long-term effects.

Price said the NATO Stock Numbers that accompany Navy accreditation mean military and defence agencies of any member of the international NATO Agreement can order the Shark Shield without requiring prolonged tender and testing processes.

A South African Government agency, the Natal Sharks Board, invented the original shark-repellent technology and awarded world exclusive rights to SeaChange, which incorporated the innovation into practical, patented designs and named it Shark Shield.