Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Shark-safe wetsuits? Would different colors help?

by Iva Skoch (RSS feed) on Apr 26th 2008 at 10:00AM

The Great White Shark attack off the coast of San Diego yesterday (and Mark Shaw's insightful comments about it) got me thinking about wetsuits. Doesn't it seem that most shark attacks happen because sharks confuse swimmers or surfers with seals? (See photo to get an idea of what such lovely encounters might look like.)

Here is my question. Why are most wetsuits black then? The majority of the all wetsuits I have ever rented and worn for diving have been black; hence they make you look like a seal. They might have a few color accents, but I am not sure the vision of sharks is good enough to fully appreciate them.

The guy who died in 2004 after a shark attack in Northern California was wearing an olive camouflage wetsuit that made him blend into the rocks (and possibly look more like a dolphin than a seal. Sharks like dolphins, too.) This page has a lot of interesting information about that attack.

Some sources, the surfing handbook being one of them, say the wetsuits with big color contrasts make you look like a fish, which is apparently not helpful, either. I have to say, I have never seen a 6-foot fish of crazy colors though.

Is it difficult to dye neoprene, say, all white or all orange? Would that help or is that wishful thinking?

Filed under: Scuba Diving, Surfing, Gear, North America, United States

Search Travel Deals

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

niro Apr 26th 2008 6:15PM

Sharks often attack kayaks which are virtually always bright in color so I don't know if this would make much difference. What the shark sees is more of a silhouette of you. Imagine taking apicture with a bright sun right behind you, you will look black regardless of clothing.

BTW sharks like whites attack from underneath so if you are diving I think you are somewhat safer if you have already descended than a surfer/swimmer/kayaker.

iva.skoch Apr 26th 2008 6:24PM

Thanks. I knew this concept was probably way too simple. Sharks are hard to outsmart, I guess. They, after all, eat each other!

rrgg Apr 28th 2008 11:55AM

I remember reading something about this...

The story is that fish are typically scared away by bright colors, and it's part of the reason many more surf shorts used to be brightly colored. It turns out that this is true for most fish but not sharks. Sharks are actually attracted to bright colors.

Regardless, I agree with niro that in this case the shark is seeing a silhouette.

ChrisN Apr 28th 2008 5:51PM

Sharks see contrast quite well, so for the sake of argument, I would think the olive or blue suits would be your best bet. However, as niro said, when a silhouette, color doesn't much matter.

Some more info here: http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/color.htm

The fact is that the CA & Baja coast line is prime great whites territory, yet there are few attacks. I think we need to give the GW's sensory systems a lot of credit - they are grabbing a lot of seals, and not people. If you look further into a lot of the attacks, most of them occur in bad water visibility (including this last case) - it's a case of mistaken identity. If you were going to worry about anything, a far better tactic would be to avoid water with less than 5 feet of visibility.

However, given the number of shark bites compared to the number of surfers and divers in the water every day, you should be worried about your commute to the ocean instead.

EvanA May 2nd 2008 9:25AM

I'm a surfer, you won't catch me wearing anything other than black or grey in the water. Surfers are probably the most style conscious athletes. Here's a link to some guy that had your same idea (BTW, no surfer actually uses this stuff).

http://www.sharkcamo.com/

Also, there are plenty of attacks that happen in warm water without wetsuits. One just happened this week in Mexico:

http://surftherenow.com/2008/04/29/san-francisco-surfer-dies-from-shark-attack-in-troncones-mexico/

Iva Skoch May 2nd 2008 9:28AM

Thanks. I am fascinated by this. Are surfers generally not scared of sharks? When I dive, sharks don't scare me, but then again there hardly seems to be any attacks on divers...If I surfed, I would be frightened, I think.

EvanA May 2nd 2008 12:08PM

No surfers are scared shitless by sharks, but there are only certain areas where sharks are common (i.e. Northern California, certain parts of Australia and South Africa). White Sharks are the common shark here. If you see a shark in any of these you get out of the water fast. I surfed in Northern California for 10 years and never saw one, but there are breaks that are "sharky." They tend to have deep water channels and rocky ledges and you just get weird feeling out there. Some breaks also have a reputation for attacks, and you try to avoid these or at least surf with your friends (more options for the shark). I dive also and have never seen a shark, but generally reef sharks are less aggressive. I think I'd crap my pants if I saw a 15 ft white shark diving. There have been a few attacks on divers by whites most recently an abalone diver in Northern California a couple years ago. You should check out the book - Devil's Teeth.

Griff Jun 22nd 2008 7:05PM

EvanA,

I am the guy who invented Sharkcamo.

Surfers do use my product and with great success.

Iva Skoch Jun 22nd 2008 7:09PM

Hey! Good to hear from you and good to hear you're keeping surfers safe.

Griff Jun 23rd 2008 8:30AM

Thanks for the support. What started out as a way to protect surfers has shifted into a way to protect sharks.

The recent shark attacks in Mexico have resulted in the slaughter of 1000's of innocent sharks.

If we could ever get ahead of the curve Sharkcamo could make a difference for all ocean enthusiast and the eco system of our oceans.

Brenda Jun 22nd 2008 7:04PM

Iva, you're right - sharks don't like to attack something swimming around underwater with a giant steel tank on it's back, and bubbles coming out of the regulator. Thank goodness for that, right? :)

I'm a former divemaster here in Northern California and have dove many times in our local great white infested waters. I only worry about sharks when I'm on the surface, waiting to descend, or doing a surface swim. When you hear about a diver being attacked in Northern California, it's always an Abalone diver (who spends a lot of time on the surface) I recently returned from South Africa (another notorius great white spot) and the divers there told me the same goes for them.