Scientists test bite-resistant wetsuit materials on white and tiger sharks

Scientists from Australia are touting the results of bite-resistant wetsuit materials to reduce deaths from shark attacks.

Researchers from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, tested four wetsuit materials — Aqua Armour, Shark Stop, ActionTX-S and Brewster — inviting white and tiger sharks to bite the material as it was dragged behind a boat. 

Tiger and white sharks are the two species responsible for the most unprovoked shark attacks.

“It’s not the entire suit, right, they’ve only used that special material in special parts of the suit, and it’s designed to protect you in the places that are most dangerous for blood loss and protect the major arteries,” Nick Whitney, a senior scientist at the New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life in Boston told the Associated Press. 

Whitney was not involved in the study. 

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While the scientists found that catastrophic injuries could still occur, all four materials were found to lessen damage from shark bites. 

Whitney noted that most people bitten by sharks die from blood loss, not from being eaten or carried away. 

“It’s typically a bite and release so they bleed to death,” he explained. “So, the goal of these suits is to protect you in specific areas and buy extra time for you to get to the beach and get to lifeguards and get medical assistance.”

Chainmail wetsuits were created in the 1970s, but the researchers said that they didn’t offer the flexibility of movement necessary for activities like surfing and diving. 

“New wetsuits that incorporate strong and light fibre often used in sailing rope, ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, offer both flexibility and protection, making them more suitable for recreational use,” the researchers said. 

Dr. Thomas Clarke, of the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University and study co-author, said that “While there were small differences between the four tested materials, they all reduced the amount of substantial and critical damage, which would typically be associated with severe haemorrhaging and tissue or limb loss.” 

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The findings were published on Thursday in the journal Wildlife Research.

“Our study showed that bite-resistant materials incorporated into wetsuits can reduce damage from large white and tiger sharks (up to 3 metres) compared to standard neoprene wetsuit, even from moderate and severe bites,” Clarke added. 

Flinders University Professor Charlie Huveneers, study co-author who leads the Southern Shark Ecology Group, said that while the suits don’t eliminate the risk from sharks, “our results indicate that they can reduce blood loss and trauma from major lacerations and punctures, potentially saving lives.”

The researchers concluded that all four materials “offer an improved level of protection that can reduce severe wounds and blood loss, and should be considered as part of the toolbox and measures available to reduce shark-bite risk and resulting injuries.”

There were fewer than 50 unprovoked shark attacks globally last year, with most of the attacks in the U.S. happening in Florida.