Grey Suits & Shields.

In the abyss, fathoms deep with buck-eyed teeth and cartilaginous stealth they lurk. Loitering around the dog-eared corners of our nightmares are perfect instruments of submarine terrorism. Forget Nile crocs the size of Land Cruisers, or grumpy Puff Adders infused with large doses of cytotoxic inertia. We surfers are hardwired to relegate all other fatal mishaps to that of a mozzie bite when encountering a very large fish of the order Selachii.

Sharks have been around for a long time, most likely somewhere in the region of 450 million years. Evolution gave up fine-tuning their hydrodynamic efficiency some 100 million years ago, and in turn instilled in ocean going humans a primal fear that swamps all rational thought with the merest flicker of movement beneath the late afternoon glass. Even the Great White’s latin name, “Carcharodon carcharias” cuts through modern English like a rusty razorblade.

We suppress our fears, taking comfort in the reams of musty stats that declare the chances of perishing in an aviation disaster far more likely than becoming a human sushi roll at some perfecto point or suburban surfing nursery. Tabloid headlines and fear mongering are best ignored. Somehow fear always becomes that missing jigsaw piece, even when paddling out at a postcard beachie in the middle of summer on a pushing tide? Glassy A-Frames perfumed by sunscreen and wax in the mid-morning offshore are simply too idyllic for a fishy bogeyman. Cousin Johnny and the underwater Mafioso don’t exist unless you add them as sinister variables to your sublime equation. Then factor in treknet fisherman, shark cage operators or river mouths spewing muddy human detritus and your summery dream will end in one merciless blur of spray and thrashing, turning the sea to Pinotage and death.

Marine biologists, shark aficionados, crackpot journos and surfers all have their infallible opinions, stoking the fear in some cases with great glee. Shark attacks sell newspapers; humans feast on fear, gorging themselves like a crazed cabal of Blue Pointers. 100 million sharks are “harvested” annually in comparison to approximately 10 human fatalities. Even when faced with these incongruous numbers, deep within mankind’s genetic encoding there’s an instinctual fear that’s not going to capitulate to rational thought anytime soon.

Nonetheless it’s somewhat satisfying knowing there’s an equaliser patrolling our watery playground, an animal of almost mythic proportions that can shove us humans a good few links down the corroded food chain. No amount of surfista bravado or inked-up testosterone can square up to “Carcharodon carcharias”. I’d love to see a local bully “take it to the beach” with a hungry Raggie or tetchy Zambezi. It’s a shame a shark’s “Ampullae of Lorenzini” (sensory receptors) cannot differentiate between decent folk and 1st grade dipsticks.

So how can we as surfers protect ourselves from ending up as a briny crouton? “Nuke-em-good” knee-jerk reactions including shark nets, shotguns, spear guns and diving knives are a medieval waste of time. However, some time back the Natal Sharks board developed a device that’s best described as battery operated “Kryptonite” for sharks. It would eventually evolve into a commercially viable Australian product known as the Shark Shield™. The electrical impulse emitted by the device is effective up to 6m, and acts on the Ampullae of Lorenzini located on the snout of a predator shark. When a shark nears the electric field of a Shark Shield it experiences extreme discomfort and involuntary muscle spasms, immediately dissuading the fish from any further investigation.

New surfing vistas are now opening up for those surfers broad-minded enough to don a Shark Shield and paddle out with peace of mind. However, surfers are at times a narrow-minded tribe, perhaps blinkered to common sense by excessive doses of sunlight dancing on a dappled ocean. Ironically, these very surfers are convinced that they are beacons of free-thought and open mindedness, yet when it comes to embracing a scientifically proven device that deters our grey-suited friends, almost 90% of surfers I’ve chatted to cave into bullish conservativism. They suddenly squint into the middle distance and with all the wisdom of an Oxford don revert to urban myths about Shark Shields attracting ravenous schools of man-eaters. The wheel barrow loads of bullshit that spews forth from these armchair experts, and in some cases “highly respected” surfers, is on par with telly evangelists, African dictators and The Spanish Inquisition.

Yarns of Great Whites gulping down Shark Shields like jelly tots, and becoming “immune” to the device’s three-dimensional electrical impulse are no more than self-deception and technophobia in the wake of a revolutionary solution. Another favourite predestination of surfers is, “if it’s my time to go, then so be it”. I wonder if one of these dream-catching “fatalists” would saunter unprotected through the Kruger National Park with as much reckless abandon? Surfers reacted in much the same way to the invention of “gookcord”, leg rope or leash, but it turned out to be an indispensable surfing accessory in the long term.

As for the Shark Shield there’s no denying it’s an expensive piece of kit, but so were Flat screen TVs when they first flickered onto the market. If you surf a “sharky” spot, a fully charged device will give you at the very least, 4 to 5 hours of peace of mind. I’ve paddled out at a number of spots wearing my Shark Shield only to be scoffed at, or simply given a side-ways glance dripping with disdain and betrayal. Do I care; unequivocally not? It takes a couple of sessions to get used to the device, but it won’t affect your overall freedom in the water. Most detractors often bemoan the device as bulky and cumbersome, but then again they also like to think their surfing is on par with Mick or Kelly.

Yes, a Shark Shield is a man-made device and prone to possible malfunction from excessive abuse. If you don’t turn the device on it will not work, and more importantly, it needs to be rinsed-off and re-charged after every session. Perhaps that’s a bit too much to ask for some, considering the mountains of neoprene involved in ongoing micro-biological experiments in the back of bakkies and boots across the land.

Shark Shields come in two distinct types. One version allows for the battery pack to be fitted, by means of a base-plate to the tail of your board. The other type is secured to your ankle much like a leash. In both cases the electrode can double as a leash.

Interestingly enough, competitive surfers were protected by three battery operated Shark Shield devices attached to buoys at the backline of Nahoon Reef during the Mr Price Open surfing championships in 2009. Lifeguards merely replaced the Shark Shield batteries every four hours offering protection for surfers during the event. Global Surf News even reported that Surfing South Africa (SSA) was considering using Shark Shields at other surfing competitions in the future. It’s a labour intensive and expensive undertaking, but these tentative steps offer a life-saving solution that can be streamlined in the future.

Shark Shields are used by the Australian Special Forces, South African Navy, US Coast Guard and is also approved by NATO. I’ve watched countless videos online, chatted to commercial divers who swear by it and read detailed reports on the efficacy of the device. For me, it’s about peace of mind, and it happens to comes in the form of a Shark Shield when I paddle out at a high risk spot. As for the drive in my ’94 Toyota Corolla to my sharky bay, well that’s another story…