New Use for LEDs ... Preventing Shark Attacks!

As the fluorescent ban deadline approaches, our customers are showing renewed interest in the many benefits of LED lighting. While preventing shark attacks doesn't top the list of benefits for most, it's certainly of interest to those of us who surf.

Here's the scoop: new research led by Professor Nathan Hart of Macquarie University’s Neurobiology Lab and Dr. Laura Ryan has unveiled a potential strategy to reduce Great White shark attacks. Their study, titled "Counterillumination Reduces Bites by Great White Sharks," published in Current Biology, explores how LED lighting can disrupt sharks' ability to identify prey. The researchers suggest this innovation could inspire non-invasive shark deterrent technologies to protect humans.

Great Whites rely heavily on their vision to hunt, often mistaking the silhouette of a human or surfboard for a seal due to their poor visual acuity and likely color blindness. They detect prey by spotting its silhouette against the water surface, which poses a danger to swimmers and surfers.

Drawing inspiration from juvenile plainfin midshipman fish—which use light-emitting photophores to break up their silhouettes—the team tested "counterillumination" as a way to confuse sharks' visual systems.

Over six years, Dr. Ryan conducted experiments in Mossel Bay, South Africa, a known hotspot for Great White sharks. The team towed 1.2-meter seal-shaped foam decoys behind a boat to attract sharks. They then used LED lights in various configurations to obscure the decoys' silhouettes.

The most effective deterrent was a pattern of LED lights arranged in stripes perpendicular to the decoys' movement. These lights disrupted the decoys' silhouettes, reducing shark attacks.

"It’s like an invisibility cloak, but instead of hiding the object, we break its silhouette into smaller parts," explained Professor Hart. "The lights need to follow specific patterns and brightness levels to work effectively."

This innovative approach could lead to safer waters for surfers and swimmers by leveraging sharks' visual limitations.