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      Shark Eyes is a visual shark deterrent, designed and used by the most experienced watermen in Australian waters – abalone divers.

      Abalone divers have more encounters with sharks in Australia on a regular basis than anyone. Shark Eyes has also been endorsed by marine scientists, shark researchers and professional water sports athletes.



      How does it work?

      1. Sharks have excellent visual capabilities

      It is well known that sharks have superior senses. Recent research indicates that this includes their vision –  they do in fact have superb visual capabilities. Sharks have been found to detect surface prey visually (Strong, 1996) having high visual capabilities (Gruber & Cohen, 1985).

      Sharks are ambush predators, relying heavily on the element of surprise to capture prey (Strong, 1996). Sharks employ predatory tactics which involve a risk assessment before attacking it’s prey (Lima & Dill, 1989). “Shark Eyes” aims to alter the sharks initial risk assessment thereby altering its “strike” behavior to an “abort” behavior (Martin et al., 2005).

      Shark Eyes is unlike any of the shark's natural prey and is designed to mimic that of a human eye. Hours of research has gone into designing a set of eyes that we know sharks can see. Science is unsure as to whether or not sharks can see color although many scientists believe they can and they do know they can see contrast. Shark Eyes – the design of the eye – achieves depth of field through contrast.

      Great White Shark checking out the photographer Phillip Thurston

      2. Shark Eyes eliminates the predatory element of surprise.

      When the element of surprise is gone, sharks often abandon their attack.

      Sharks are ambush predators just like lions and tigers. Like most land apex predators, shark predation relies heavily on the element of surprise. We know and have witnessed sharks change their behavior and become more cautious once eye contact has been made.

      Shark Eyes is designed to mimic human eye contact, making the shark feel like it has been spotted, taking away their element of surprise. This has the potential to change the behavior of the shark and prevent an attack.

      Marc Payne (Ambassador) staring at a Great White taking away the element of surprise

      3. Mimicry / Eyespots

      Shark Eyes is simply copying what nature is already doing.

      Mimicry / Eyespots are scientifically proven as a successful defense mechanism seen often in nature. Land and water animals are known to adapt to mimic large false eyes mostly on their rears to fend off predators. Mimicry is seen in birds, butterflies, moths, cats, caterpillars, fish and more.

      Humans have successfully used mimicry as a line of defense in India. Face masks were applied to the back of the local's heads to protect them from tigers. It reduced the amount of attacks.

      Mimicry is seen in fish to defend from larger predators & humans using mimicry to defend against tiger attacks.

      Why use Shark Eyes?

      The threat of shark attack is slowly eating away at our carefree attitude as shark encounters and attacks are increasing. This is affecting our enjoyment in the ocean.

      The intention of the Shark Eyes visual deterrent is make you feel safer and more confident in the water and importantly minimize your risk of an unwanted encounter or attack.

      • Sharks have superior visual capabilities and rely on their vision when hunting
      • Mimicry is proven to work in nature- Shark Eyes deterrent is mimicking what is already working in nature.
      • Shark Eyes is non-invasive (Does not harm any human or shark.) Regardless of your political opinion, Shark Eyes is for everyone!
      • Shark Eyes is affordable-so that it can be accessed by all ocean lovers.
      • Shark Eyes can be applied to many different water craft-i.e. surfboards, bodyboards, fins, canoes, wetsuits, diving tanks, swimming apparel and more.
      • Shark Eyes does not need recharging and is not at risk of mechanical/electrical breakdown, as long as it is applied it is effective.
      • Due to a lack in scientific evidence at present, a way forward in minimizing shark attacks is to trust the anecdotal evidence derived from professional watermen and women.
      • Having Shark Eyes watching out for you when you can’t, is a reassuring comfort.

      Scientific Theory behind Shark Eyes

      Sharks are visual predators that predominately use the element of surprise when attacking (Strong,1996), usually attacking from behind and beneath its prey (Tricas and McCosker 1984). Strong(1996) found sharks were initially attracted to their prey with sense of smell but appeared to use vision the closer it approached. A shark’s vision is well developed and more elaborate than most fishes (Gilbert, 1963), having duplex retinas containing both rod and cone photoreceptors (Gruber & Cohen, 1985) indicating they have excellent visual capabilities and ability to see color.

      When predating, sharks undertake a risk assessment before attacking its prey (Lima and Dill, 1989; Martin et al., 2005) and it’s at this point where “Shark eyes” is designed to assist watermen.

      “Shark Eyes” is intended to signal the approaching predator that it has been detected, effectively saying “I’ve seen you” and thereby altering the shark’s predatory behavior. “Shark eyes” therefore aims to alter the sharks risk assessment and deter the shark from attacking. By taking away the element of surprise, the shark has a reduced chance of successfully capturing its prey. For example, an adult white shark is usually not agile enough to capture a fleeing, darting seal hence it generally attacks its prey by surprise (Tricas and McCosker, 1984). Similarly, Strong (1996) observed in numerous occasions that fur seals and sea lions easily avoided white sharks, suggesting that once the shark was visually detected, the chance of capture of the seal prey drop considerably. Once a shark sees the “Shark eyes” and realizes it has been detected, it may now be optimal for the shark to abandon its attack.

      As described by Martin et al., (2005) the stages of predatory behavior by a white shark involves a “Gather Info” stage before deciding to “Strike” or “Abort” an attack. It’s at this “Gather Info” stage that “Shark Eyes” aims to influence the sharks risk assessment, altering the shark’s behavior to “Abort”.

      Figure 1. (Above) Hypothesized decision tree of predatory tactics by white sharks on surface borne Cape fur seals at Seal Island, South Africa. Modified from Martin et al., (2005). Additionally, the concept that “eyespots” used in mimicry (or finspots in fish) can reduce the risk of a predatory attack is well supported (Blest 1957, Vallin et al., 2005) and further complements the theory to “Shark Eyes”.

      References
      Blest, A.D. (1957) The function of eyespot patterns in the lepidoptera. Behavior, 11, 209 – 256.
      Gilbert, P.W. (1963) The visual apparatus. In: Sharks and survival. P.W Gilbert, ed. D.C. Heath and Co., Boston, pp. 283 – 326.
      Lima, S.L., Dill, L.M. (1990) Behavioural decisions made under the risk of predation: a review asn prospectus. Can. J. Zool 68:619 – 640
      Strong, W.R. (1996) Shape Discrimination and Visual Predatory Tactics in White Sharks. In: Klimley, A.P. & Ainley, D. (Eds.) Great White Sharks. The biology of Carcharodon carcharias : 229 – 240.
      Tricas, T.C. and McCosker, J.E. (1984) Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences series 4 1984 43:221-238
      Vallin, A., Jakobsson, S. Wicklund, C. (2005) Prey survival by predator intimidation: an experimental study of peacock butterfly defense against blue tits. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 272, 1203 – 1207.