The growing number of incidents with sharks, a South Carolina company has put on the market a cuff that prevents the carefree bather or surfer being bitten by one of these animals.
In recent years, the attacks of sharks people multiplied and 2015, with 98 of these events, six of them fatal, in fact takes the sceptre be the year with the “largest number of unprovoked shark attacks” since we have records, according to the international shark attack file (ISAF).
A few years ago, a victim of these unfortunate encounters was a friend of Nathan Garrison, who along with his father, David Garrison, began to devise a machine that could protect bathers from potential attacks, since secondary finding scientific studies on the deterrent effects offered for that purpose by the electromagnetic waves.
“Human beings or feel it, but is very unpleasant for the shark and they are repelled,” points to Efe David Garrison, co-founder of Sharkbanz, the company that has developed, backed by marine biologists, some increasingly common bangles in California or Florida beaches and which emit an electromagnetic field in the water.
Released to the market in 2015, in the last two years have been sold more than 45,000 units, mainly in the United States and Australia, but last year they opened markets in Brazil, Japan and some European countries.
As explained to Efe by the company, Davis Mersereau, director of product development ultimately bracelets are a “security apparatus” that based on a “strong permanent magnet” discourages “curiosity of the shark” with a few more strong waves of what they’ve heard in your life.
“Not going to hurt, neither sharks nor other animals around”, adds Mersereau, who notes that the product is thinking about people that you spend much time in the water, surfers and divers, as well as occasional bathers.
Garrison highlights in particular benefits for families on holiday, many of whom flock to the coasts of Florida, international destination par excellence for Beach tourism, and at the same time the area of the world where most attacks unprovoked shark are recorded, one of which occurred last March in a New Smyrna Beach.
The authorities in Volusia County, in the center of the State, pointed out that the victim of that event, a surfer from 58 years was about 30 yards (27 meters) from the coast, was bitten in the foot on March 27, which was the first case of such attacks this year.
The ISAF, a database of the University of Florida (UF), researched in 2016 a total of 150 incidents between sharks and humans on the planet, 81 of which were confirmed cases not caused, i.e. attacks that occurred in the natural habitat of the sharks, and without that mediate unprovoked.
United States accumulated that year a total of 53 cases, including 10 in Hawaii and 32 in the coasts of Florida, the scenario leading to such attacks and mostly constitute “bites of curiosity” of sharks, who often think they see some possible bite human limb.
“Warmer waters and more people on the beach,” wields Garrison, based on the hypothesis that shuffles the scientific community, as the very causes that explain the increase in the number of interactions between sharks and humans, and in the case of Florida feature with the addition of the preeminence of murky waters and shallow.
In Florida, this April continues even the time of migrations of the species of shark Carcharhinus limbatus, or also known as black tips, who is leading thousands of these animals close to the coasts, with the consequent risk of a shark attack.
“As the world population continues to grow and increase their interest in aquatic recreation, should expect an increase in the number of attacks with sharks and other aquatic recreation-related injuries,” warns ISAF in its report dedicated to the year 2016.
Aquatic recreation which ironically includes scuba diving in search of sharks, a tourist reef which only in Florida generated in 2016 more than 221 million dollars, according to a report by the environmental group Oceana released last month.
Perhaps because of that scenario, as well as the increasingly more common movement of people around the world, Sharkbanz continues its expansion and in the coming months his bracelets, that do not need batteries or be charged in electricity, are now available in Spain, through the Amazon eCommerce platform.
