In 2024, there were 71 recorded shark bites globally with seven fatalities. While your fear of sharks may be mostly irrational, that danger is dramatically higher for those who spend lots of time in the ocean, like surfers or divers. Carly Kay reports for SN on a new wetsuit that may protect its wearer from shark bites.
🏄 Built-in shark shield
Existing shark-resistant suits like full-body chain mail are heavy and make swimming difficult. Researchers from Australia — which boasts a terrific surf culture — tested four bite-resistant materials to soup up the synthetic rubber neoprene that’s common in wetsuits. One had strategic sections of chain mail, and others incorporated Kevlar — the stuff of bulletproof vests — or lightweight yet durable fibers used in sailboat ropes.
The researchers then lured white sharks and tiger sharks to a boat, baiting them to bite a buoylike object covered in either a bite-resistant or traditional wetsuit. All four materials almost entirely resisted severe damage, even when the sharks dragged and thrashed the object. The standard neoprene suits were deeply punctured, but the test materials only had shallow indentations, as if a housecat had bitten them. This innovation may prevent shark-attack victims from bleeding out, which is the primary cause of death from this rare episode.
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