RSS
Home
Can You Shark Proof Your Board?
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Yeah, yeah – I know the odds are tremendous. But I have to admit, if I’m in the water during a lull, I’ll sometimes look into the water and think, “What if there’s a big one under there?” Then I’ll pull my legs up a little and try to think about anything other than sharks.
Of course, there’s no sure fire way to avoid getting attacked by a shark. But one of the more interesting concepts I’ve seen is Sharkcamo. If you’ve seen a surfboard that features a zebra pattern on the bottom, you’ve encountered Sharkcamo.
Pam and Cash McConnell, of Grover Beach, CA, came up with the idea while watching a cable show about sharks a few years back. Basically, they learned that sharks tend to avoid certain marine life, particularly the lion fish, the pilot fish and the poisonous sea snake. Each of these features a zebra-like pattern. So the McConnells figured they would simply apply that pattern to boards.
Even though they’ve done some testing, there’s no way to know for sure if it works — unless someone with Sharkcamo gets attacked, in which case we’ll know it clearly doesn’t work. But so far so good for Sharkcamo.
Now, of course, sharks attacks are extremely rare. You’re far more likely to get killed by lightning. But still — it does happen. And even the pros get a little nervous sometimes, as when Taj Burrow freaked out at a contest a few years ago when he thought he saw a great white.
Considering the odds, I don’t feel too worried about not having Sharkcamo on my board. But I do get a little nervous when I see another surfer with it. Because if it does work and there is a shark around, who’s gonna look less like a lion fish?
Related Articles:
Comments
.jpg)
