Joe Surf: A shark tale with a twist

Zack Davis, a 16-year-old surfer from South Florida, was bitten on the arm by a black tip shark last week. Davis wrapped his leash around his upper arm to curb the bleeding and was taken to the hospital, where he got 44 stitches but is otherwise OK and recovering.

Not an unusual occurrence, right? Particularly off the coast of South Florida. But there is a twist to this shark tale.

Just two days prior to his encounter with the shark, Davis received a Christmas present — a Sharkbanz wrist band, meant to repel sharks using magnetic technology.

“I got this for Christmas,” Zack said in an interview with South Florida’s CBS12. “It was supposed to keep sharks away, and the first time I wore it, I got bit.”

Shark repellent technology is relatively new and there are a handful of companies making products that claim to keep the sharks away, using a range of technologies. They range from magnetic and electrical fields, to a spray repellent using an extract of dead shark tissue, and even an acoustic repellent, using a device that emits a sound of orca calls.

“There are a variety of anti-shark products out there,” Dr. Carl Meyer, of the University of Hawaii’s Shark Research Center, said in an interview with Surfer Magazine. “Some have a theoretical base and some are just nonsense. The devices based on electromagnetism have some potential. But I’m hesitant to say that they’re completely effective. I still believe that there needs to be more exhaustive, independent research done before we can come to any concrete conclusion.”

One might think Davis would have his doubts about Sharkbanz, but Sharkbanz co-founder Nathan Garrison spoke with Davis and relayed his conversation in a statement released by the company.

“I spoke with Zack, who believes that the encounter and bite were a case of rare bad luck,” Garrison said. “He remarked that the shark was most likely and accidentally provoked when [Zack] jumped off his board into the water and landed nearby, placing his hand on the sand as he was getting rolled by the wave.

“Our scientific partners and shark researchers at SharkDefense Technologies have concurred with this self-defense assessment of the shark’s behavior. Managing Partner and Sr. Chemist of SharkDefense Technologies, Dr. Eric Stroud, a leading expert on magnetic shark deterrent technologies, noted, ‘If the surfer did land on top of the shark or very close to it, the shark would have likely acted defensively to this. While accidental and certainly unlucky, this is essentially a provoked attack from the shark’s perspective. If the animal was cornered relative to the shore, the surfer’s body, and physical contact occurred near the shark’s head, the shark acted as expected. In a provoked attack situation, shark repellents are no longer effective.’”

The statement went on to say that Davis’ Sharkbanz wristband, worn on the arm that wasn’t bitten, might have caused the shark to let go sooner that it otherwise would have.

“I’m really relieved he is OK, and he was super positive about his recovery,” Garrison told both Zack and the local news in South Florida. “What happened here is essentially the rarest of shark encounters, where Zack jumped off his board and pretty much landed on the shark. If anything, [Sharkbanz] probably helped clear the shark out of the area quicker.”

Garrison was willing to go even further.

“Garrison said he would take me out on a boat when the black tips are running off the beach during migration, and prove to me they do actually work,” Davis said. “I was on the wave, and obviously it closed out on me, so I was underwater and could’ve been really, really close to him. But [Garrison] did mention that it could’ve been worse if I didn’t wear it… maybe.”

It’ll be interesting to see what happens off our coast this year as the water warms up, considering the juvenile Great Whites that were hanging out off Sunset Beach last year. Experts say that once they become adults, they will leave because their food source changes from things like fish and stingrays to mammals, like seals.

Either way, don’t expect the shark repellent devices to become popular out here. Huntington Surf & Sport sells a shark leash made by the Australian company Modom, but is yet to sell one. Across the street at Jack’s Surfboards, they used to sell the wristbands, but now don’t sell anything shark repellent related.

There is one certainty, though, when it comes to sharks — and that is nothing is certain. Probably no one said it better than Lindsay Lyon, CEO of another shark deterrent company called Shark Shield, which works by emitting a small electrical current into the water, intended to interfere with special sensing organs sharks have.

“Electronic shark deterrents are a safety device and there isn’t a single safety device that can guarantee your safety,” Lyon said in the Surfer Magazine article. “People die wearing seat belts and safety helmets…”

Considering how cold the water has been lately, I’d be more worried about Polar bears.

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JOE HAAKENSON is a Huntington Beach-based sports writer and editor. He may be reached at joe@juvecreative.com.