LED lights ward off shark attacks

Professor Nathan Hart, associate professor of comparative neurophysiology at Macquarie University, has found a way to ward off sharks.

He has produced a system of LED lights which, when attached to the bottom of surfboards, prevent sharks from mistaking them for seals and attacking.

But he advises against going down to Bunnings and whacking some LEDs on your board yourself.

“There is a specific pattern that you need to use, so I’d caution against people just putting anything on the bottom of their surfboard… there are certain patterns and certain brightnesses of LEDs that don’t work,” he said.

Professor Hart says the lights work by preventing white sharks from breaching, which is where they leap out of the water and take a seal off the surface.

The technology could eventually be expanded for use beyond surfboards.

“In the future, as the technology gets better and better, we could actually build that into thinks like swimsuits and wetsuits to potentially provide a level of protection for swimmers as well,” Professor Hart said.

Press PLAY below to hear Professor Hart’s full interview on 3AW Breakfast this morning.