Shark Repellent

[shawn13]

I was just watching the show Oceans on Discovery World and they have developed a shark repellent. They want to use it around commercial fishing lines to protect the thousands of sharks that get caught on the lines and die.

Apparently scientists have discovered that sharks dislike the scent of dead/rotting shark. The group made a liquid of distilled dead shark flesh. They were surrounded by sharks and fish after chumming the water. They released this 'shark repellent' and the sharks started to dissipate. After a few minutes all the sharks had left and the fish remained.

I'm curious is this technique could be used at beaches that have issues with sharks. Anyone hear of this before?

[RickI]

I am surprised they made a big deal out of that. Shark repellents using extract of dead shark have been around since at least WWII. They have been of limited effectiveness hence the ongoing work to develop something better.

[plummet]

hmmm.....

advantages
not being eaten by sharks.

disadvantages
smell like rotting fish.

[Kamikuza]

Saw a show that was using rare-earth magnets as shark repellent... combine that with the dead fish and we've got a hell of a good new kook outfit!

[shawn13]

Humans wouldn't notice the smell, the concentrated flesh is only sensitive to the sharks in the water.

The same show they were discussing using a mixture of rare earth metals to fabricate the fishing hooks so sharks wouldn't be attracted the them. Maybe an insert in a surfboard of this metal would act as a safeguard?

[Kite2Heaven]

Ok so the sharks think "well what kinda funked up monkey would dip themselves in that crap" and feel sorry for you
Just a little curious about Earth metals too - do they normally come from another Planet ?

[shawn13]

Did I say dip yourself in the stuff? You could spread it like chum or from a buoy.

This was a serious topic, unless you'd rather wear a zebra striped wet suit.

[sijandy]

Just a little curious about Earth metals too - do they normally come from another Planet ?

Technically i think most of the elements come from other planets/space but i am definetely not clever enough to explain or expand.