Fixing LED strip lights to the bottom of surfboards could deter attacks by great white sharks, Australian scientists say. A study conducted in Mossel Bay, South Africa involved towing seal-shaped boards fitted with different configurations of lights behind a boat to see which attracted the most attention.

A study suggests that wrapping a surfboard in very bright lights — like aquatic Christmas trees — could make the surfer less interesting to great white sharks.

Reports of shark attacks on surfers appear in the media quite regularly. Researchers have decided to tackle the issue. Scientists from Macquarie University in New South Wales have developed a simple but effective way to deter predators.

New research has found that using lights on the bottom side of a surfboard or kayak could put great white sharks off

Seal-shaped boards decked with bright horizontal lights were less likely to be attacked by great white sharks, researchers found.

Reports of shark attacks on surfers appear in the media quite regularly. Researchers have decided to address the issue. Scientists from Macquarie University in New South Wales have developed a simple but effective way to deter these predators.