Protective Oceanic Device
The Protective Oceanic Device (POD) is a portable device that emits an electromagnetic field around a person protecting against sharks.[1] The POD was developed by Natal Sharks Board, and was the first successful electronic shark repellent for scuba divers.[2]
By producing an electromagnetic field, the POD irritates the ampullae of Lorenzini of a shark. The POD was the first electronic device that was proven successful in deterring sharks when tested by Ron Taylor and Valerie Taylor in 1992.[2] It was a personal mobile protection unit for one person and cannot replace shark nets that are used to protect whole beaches. The original "SharkPOD" was developed and marketed by the Natal Sharks Board in South Africa. It was tested for eight years off Dyer Island with mainly great white sharks.
Ron and Valerie Taylor tested the first POD on sharks in Australia and South Africa with positive results and made a documentary about it called 'Shark POD'.[3]
The "Shark Shield" is an alternate version.[4] Diving expert Peter Clarkson, the spokesman for Shark Shield, was killed by great white sharks off South Australia in February 2011, although it is unknown whether he was using a device at the time or not.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Electric Shark Repellent". Popular Mechanics. Aug 1997. http://books.google.com/books?id=KmYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PT21&ots=b7_jmE_DGc&dq=first%20shark%20protective%20device&pg=PT21#v=onepage&q=first%20shark%20protective%20device&f=false.
- ^ a b Taylor, Valerie. "Testing the Shark POD". Florida Museum of Natural History. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/organizations/ssg/sharknews/sn11/shark11news8.htm.
- ^ "Ron Taylor - Sports / Education - 1966". Academy of Underwater Arts & Sciences. http://www.auas-nogi.org/bio_taylor_ron.html.
- ^ SELINGO, JEFFREY (13 June 2002). "HOW IT WORKS; When the Shark Doesn't Bite". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/13/technology/how-it-works-when-the-shark-doesn-t-bite.html?src=pm.
- ^ Diver apparently killed by sharks, CNN News, February 18th, 2011
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