Scientists from Macquarie University in New South Wales have developed a simple but effective way to deter these predators.

Fixing LED strip lights to the bottom of surfboards could deter attacks by great white sharks, Australian scientists say. A study conducted in Mossel Bay, South Africa involved towing seal-shaped boards fitted with different configurations of lights behind a boat to see which attracted the most attention.

Researchers found that striped LED lights on seal decoys deterred great white shark attacks by breaking up the decoy’s silhouette. This counterillumination approach could be applied to surfboards, providing a non-invasive shark deterrent.