Great White's fooled by LED stripes

[Brian G Turner]

Bands of LED lights that break up a silhouette appears to be an effective way to prevent Great White shark attacks:

LED light strategy deters Great White shark attacks

Surfers could be protected from future shark attacks following new discoveries about how to trick sharks' visual systems made by Professor Nathan Hart, head of Macquarie University's Neurobiology Lab, Dr. Laura Ryan and colleagues.

phys.org

These researchers previously discovered that Great Whites place a high reliance on their eyes to locate prey, lunge upwards to take potential food such as a seal in their jaws.

In related studies, researchers have found that Great Whites are likely completely color blind with poor visual acuity, compensated by their strong ability to detect a silhouette. But the shark's poor vision means they can't distinguish the silhouette of a surfboard or a human in the water from a seal, leading Great Whites to pose a danger to people.

The researchers took inspiration from juvenile plainfin midshipman fish which have photophores on its underside that produce light and disrupt the shape of its silhouette.