Cape Cod groups are looking to test out electronic shark deterrent technology this summer, including a nonprofit that is hoping to roll out a protective “virtual shark net.”
Cape Cod Ocean Community Inc. — a nonprofit that formed after a man was killed by a shark in Cape waters three years ago — is working on shark surveillance testing projects this summer.
“We’ve been thinking about shark barriers since Day One, ever since Arthur Medici died,” said Heather Doyle, a co-founder of the nonprofit organization.
Ahead of this summer, which promises to be full of shark sightings as the great whites return to the Cape, Doyle said the group is looking at testing out shark deterrent technology — including a protective “virtual shark net” from the Australia-based company Ocean Guardian.
While Ocean Guardian’s personal shark deterrent devices have been rising in popularity along the Cape, the nonprofit is instead eyeing the company’s long-range shark deterrent system called the BOAT01. The device with a buoy can float out behind a boat and create a safe swimming area, according to the company.
Users can daisy-chain up to four devices to create a larger swimming zone.
“We’re very aggressively thinking about how many we can get to try out the daisy chain, and test it out for ourselves,” Doyle said.
“We do have some places on private property where we know we can roll it out and use drones for validation,” she added, noting that they’re big advocates for using drones to spot sharks close to shore.
Doyle stressed that the group is “trying to break glass and move the needle” on the Cape.
“We want to move from the unknown to the known,” she said. “We should be trying things, we shouldn’t be doing nothing. We’re on borrowed time for another Arthur Medici.”
Ocean Guardian also has an even larger-scale barrier system to create a shark-free zone at private resort beaches, and in designated diving and snorkeling locations.
An Ocean Guardian representative said there are “interested parties on the Cape hoping to run their own trial of our technology.”
“Our technology has always been very successful in trials,” added Amanda Wilson of Ocean Guardian. “It’s been conclusively proven that our technology is successful in stopping great white sharks.”
In a South Africa study for the company’s shark barrier tech, white sharks in the area moved away from the system and remained out of view until the system was switched off. Then when the system was turned off, the white sharks returned.
