Magnetic shark repellent

Magnetic shark repellents utilize permanent magnets, which exploit the sensitivity of the Ampullae of Lorenzini in sharks and rays (electrosense). This organ is not found on bony fishes (teleosts), therefore, this type of shark repellent is selective to sharks and rays. Permanent magnets do not require power input, making them ideal for use in fisheries and as bycatch reduction devices.

During November 2004, Sharkdefense researcher Eric Stroud accidentally dropped a magnet onto a rubber mat near a captive tank at the Oak Ridge Shark Laboratory. He noticed that juvenile nurse sharks (G. cirratum) near the tank wall swam away. While the initial event may have been due to vibrations, it led him to test the effects of the magnet on the captive sharks. Placing the magnet within the tank, Eric observed that nurse sharks avoided the region around the magnet. Follow-on tests in 2005 with Michael Herrmann at the laboratory used an acrylic Y-Maze and showed preference towards non-magnetic exits and strong conditioning. During February 2005, Patrick Rice and Eric Stroud conducted tonic immobility trials at the Bimini Biological Field Station, Bahamas, which confirmed that juvenile lemon sharks (N. brevirostris) and juvenile nurse sharks (G. cirratum) roused when permanent magnets were presented within 50 cm of the sharks nares. Interestingly, mobility was not terminated when strong electromagnets were placed near the sharks.

On January 1, 2009, a peer-reviewed publication described experiments in Australia showing the efficacy of using magnets to deter sharks.

On January 12, 2010, Craig O'Connell from SharkDefense also published a peer-reviewed paper on the efficacy of magnetic shark repellents.

Several species of sharks have demonstrated the ability to sense magnetic fields (Kalmijn, 1978; Ryan, 1980; Klimley, 1993; 2002). The Ampullae of Lorenzini organ within sharks is used to detect weak electrical fields at short ranges. The detection range of this organ is effective only within inches, as sharks sense bioelectrical fields in the final stages of prey capture. The flux per unit area of certain permanent magnets, particularly Neodymium-Iron-Boride and Barium-Ferrite magnets, corresponds closely with the detection range of the Ampullae of Lorenzini. The fields generated by these permanent magnets (ferrite and rare-earth types) decrease at the inverse cube of the distance from the magnet to sharks and rays. Therefore, at distances of a few meters from the magnet, the field exerted is less than the Earth's magnetic field. Animals which lack that Ampullae of Lorenzini organ do not display aversive behavior in close proximity to the magnetic field, making this technology selective.

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