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Very interesting concept. I wonder what the production models will look like, but more importantly, how much will they charge for this technology.

Thought provoking.
But would you wear one of those wet suits?
I'd feel happy wearing the mottled blue one but I'd feel a bit foolish in the stripey one. Still, can you afford not to wear one?
It is a pity I have a nice collection of black wet suits... I wonder if you can paint them?

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Windxtasy said...
Thought provoking.
But would you wear one of those wet suits?
I'd feel happy wearing the mottled blue one but I'd feel a bit foolish in the stripey one. Still, can you afford not to wear one?
It is a pity I have a nice collection of black wet suits... I wonder if you can paint them?

Who cares what you look like, if it might save your life!!
I wonder why they left the body part unstriped ?
+1 for the painting idea,

Can they patent strips so nobody else could use for free?

Do they come with a money back guarantee?

TLDW;

In the past I heard that colorful wetsuits are the way to go, so as not to look like a seal. I also heard that, no - plain black is the way to go, sharks are attracted to colorful glittery stuff...

My worry with this is that it may just turn out to do the exact opposite of what it claims to do. That would really suck.

^ did you look at the video, looked pretty compelling to me.

The stripe suit theory has been around for years, I have seen documentaries on it before. It,s not new by any means however this is appears a bit more scientific and tested than previous attempts which were just based on the observation that sea creatures which are toxic to eat are often stripy.

Funny thing is all the kiters would buy them then put their board shorts over the top. Darwinism

It's literally a Zoolander suit. Still is from a Jack Johnson music video.

I can't wear this with a fluro sail. Even the sharks will laugh at me.

That Great White still got way too close for my liking.
Ive heard for years about new inventions that were supposed to scare off sharks and over the years they've been debunked. A drum in the water doesnt really look like a person as there's no movement or thrashing which is how sharks detect fish in trouble, so i wouldnt be testing the theory out myself with any confidence.

your right Martin nature has already worked this out, it's just a matter of identifying the deadliest fish and copying their colours/stripes

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Macroscien said..

Can they patent strips so nobody else could use for free?

Hey Macro you want to volunteer to try one out go out and shake your bum at that shark you and haircut saw on crab island?

Surfers will weigh up the reduction of the low risk against how they will be perceived by the opposite sex. Fashion might win out. Something like a hot chilly flavoured wetsuit might sell. Supercharge our bad taste. No one needs to know that that's what you've got on. Secondary safety, like an airbag. It's still going to hurt but you've got a better chance of living to tell the tale. Further research is needed of course.

http://www.sharktrust.org/en/taste

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Ian K said..
, like an airbag.

That is interesting idea ! if we could in shark emergency deploy an airbag inside shark mouth !

I actually observed similar behavior already in nature. In my home aquarium .

Strange looking and fearsome Leaf Fish swallow / eat my newly purchased tinny Puffer Fish.

In few minutes Leaf Fish dropped dead and Puffer Fish swam of the mouth of the Leaf Fish alive and in good condition.
Just in seconds after been swallow Puffer Fish inflate itself blocking water access the suffocated Leaf fish.

he he he

Looks like an inflatable pair of legs in red pants..^^ :D

Its one of those avalanche (snow) survival devices.

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Macroscien said..

Ian K said..
, like an airbag.

That is interesting idea ! if we could in shark emergency deploy an airbag inside shark mouth !

I actually observed similar behavior already in nature. In my home aquarium .

Strange looking and fearsome Leaf Fish swallow / eat my newly purchased tinny Puffer Fish.

In few minutes Leaf Fish dropped dead and Puffer Fish swam of the mouth of the Leaf Fish alive and in good condition.
Just in seconds after been swallow Puffer Fish inflate itself blocking water access the suffocated Leaf fish.

That's a harrowing tale

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Windxtasy said..

Thought provoking.
But would you wear one of those wet suits?
I'd feel happy wearing the mottled blue one but I'd feel a bit foolish in the stripey one. Still, can you afford not to wear one?
It is a pity I have a nice collection of black wet suits... I wonder if you can paint them?

why would you feel foolish? if i sailed where there were sharks, i'd wear one for sure

in fact the whole wetsuit industry could do with a rocket when it comes to design

reminds me a little of north sails

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choco said..

your right Martin nature has already worked this out, it's just a matter of identifying the deadliest fish and copying their colours/stripes

What about stone fish. They are the nastiest bastards that don't actually kill you in the whole universe and beyond, and they look like rocks.
I suppose a convincing looking rock wouldn't be too appealing to an everyday carnivore but a rock that wriggled and moved and waved it's legs around might so for rock camo to work you have to keep still.

Looking like a rock couldn't be a bad thing. There are so many rocks about that the chances of a rock eating shark actually picking on you can't be high.

Maybe sharks know that rocks don't float

This topic seems to come up every few months. The video they show doesn't really convince me considering the barrel wasn't moving around or had limbs. Why not dress a manikin in the suit to see how the shark reacts to a shape similar of a human form. Back in high school, my oceanography teacher once told me that if a shark ever approaches you to "roll up into a ball", the shark wont know what it is.

But if/when someone decides to actually make a WINDSPORT wetsuit that's striped like this, I doubt it would be cheap.

In the mean time, you can get one of these on the cheap and wear it over the wetty

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norcom said...
Why not dress a manikin in the suit to see how the shark reacts to a shape similar of a human form.

I don't know the answer, but he mentioned in his talk that 'ethics' approval for the research restricted them from putting human like shapes in the water for testing. Maybe they could do it with seal type shapes instead?

I have never heard of a turd eating shark, there's a good disguise. I have been called one so may as well dress like one

The blue one looked quite doable.

The other gaol one looked like something Tabou and Gaastra would make - lol..... I'd still wear it.... :P

Reaserch shows wearing a shark suit will dramatically reduces the odds of aquatic predation. 170 people participated in the study. 113 were beat to a pulp on the way to the beach, 30 sufficated, 17 drowned and 10 refused to leave the change rooms, but not one single person was eaten by a shark...

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Macroscien said..
That is interesting idea ! if we could in shark emergency deploy an airbag inside shark mouth !

A shark's mouth is not an ideal environment for an airbag.

The wetsuits are already available commercially from www.radiator.net