I was getting sharks wait for me in Lake Macquarie lately.
A couple of big sharks, a bull and a great white were circling around me and followed me till I got off on a wharf. I also got teeth marks in my foil from a bite a few months later. Just a few yards from shore.
Numerous tales of sharks bending foils and mauling them and passing around other wind foilers.
I have a theory that all this started after people started recommending lanolin sprays to prevent corrosion of foil bolts and hellicoils.
I have now washed all the things that I sprayed with lanolin and I haven't had any sharks chase me since. And I haven't seen any either.

It's just a theory but I hope everyone else washes their gear with laundry detergent and fresh water, so the sharks don't thing of lamb stew when they cross the scent trail of sailboarders. Lanolin is an oil/wax from sheep's wool. Please don't use it.
Also soap wash your wetsuits and yourselves and thoroughly rinse them.

I also wear light blue on my wetsuits because I noticed that the stingrays have veins on their backs that glow bright blue when they are scared.
I have told people this for years and the more the better.
My Fanatic Stingray has light blue color deck, but the bottom unfortunately is blood red.
Might help?
Cheers
Paul Roche

That's a really good point. Wouldn't use whale blubber on our screws so why lanolin? Tefgel etc is not likely to attract.

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Mark _australia said..
That's a really good point. Wouldn't use whale blubber on our screws so why lanolin? Tefgel etc is not likely to attract.

What? You want me to toss a virtually unused tube of BlubberGel? Thats bull$**t, man.

(Some do object to the forever chemicals in Tefgel, probably rightfully so. There's definitely a market for a product that works well but doesn't appeal to Mr White and friends. )

I don't think any lanolin sprays I've seen smelled anything like actual sheep's wool; more like a chemical smell. And there's no way of knowing whether that smell, or whatever other smells we exude happen to attract sharks, until someone does some proper studies on this. For all we know, they may love the smell of soaps much better than the smell of an unwashed wetsuit?
As for the colour thing: has anyone researched whether the shark still eats a stingray when it displays a blue colour to show fear?
So many theories abound regarding shark behaviours, but so little actual information.

I recently read that someone suggested Permatex Anti-Seize with the caveat that it might be less environmentally friendly. I wish I knew how much environmental impact this stuff has.

More chance of attracting Kiwis