SURROUNDED by a swarm of Caribbean reef sharks off the Bahamas, Jim Morris waits patiently as the carnivorous fish brush against him, nudging the diver for the handouts of bloody fish they have come to expect. The pack of 12 sharks moves gracefully in a hypnotic underwater ballet, circling in a smooth flow of gray, while Morris sits on the ocean floor.
When his dive partner begins to feed the sharks bits of sashimi, the sharks crowd in. Morris pushes a button, and the sharks instantly scatter like a pack of cats with tails on fire.
The sharks have just been introduced to Shark POD, a sonic device that works similar to the technique teens use when they crank up thrash rock 'n' roll on their stereo to send their parents scurrying from the room.
If you listen to the South African developers and promoters, Shark POD (Protective Oceanic Device) is a technological marvel that will keep humans and sharks from tangling.
But California diver Morris wants to let potential customers know that sometimes sharks ignore the irksome sonic frequencies that Shark POD emits.
"There were a couple of times when the shark didn't give a damn when the unit was on," Morris says, adding that Shark POD is a work in progress. Yet divers across the world have enthusiastically embraced this new technology, either unaware of or undeterred by its shortcomings.
Morris has touted Shark POD in every media imaginable, from serious scientific magazines to gee-whiz TV tabloid shows. But his real dream is to come to Hawaii.Morris is eager to find out what will happen when some seriously bad fish like tiger sharks come sniffing around and he pushes the button.
He was intrigued by a Maui diver who told Morris tales of fishing in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and being scared out of the water by packs of 50 to 60 tiger sharks, big brutes that vaporize fish on the line, then keep coming up to the boat to chew on his gear.
"I'm dying to do a dive with this guy," says Morris, with no hint of irony. "I would like to take a POD and test it with a lot of tigers going after the fish he has caught. It would be an ideal situation."
The real ideal circumstance that Morris seeks is to test the device with no bloody fish or any type of bait in the water. "It's tough to get them to come in without baiting. Bait brings them in, but it alters the situation, makes it a lot less natural. I don't want to habituate these animals to associate humans with food."
Morris often offers himself up as a meal to test whether the POD works.
"You feel like you are a human lure," he says with a shudder. "You have to have the POD turned off to draw in the sharks, but the unit was designed to be run continuously, so the shark never comes close."
South Africa's quasi-governmental Natal Sharks Board has long sought to end the ghastly slaughter of sharks and other marine life caught in its nets that protect beachgoers from sharks. So it refined work on sonic vibrations started by the Florida Fish & Game Service.
Jelly-filled pores on a shark's snout called ampullae of Lorenzeni help sharks locate prey in murky water or buried in sand by detecting tiny electrical impulses, such as those generated by muscle contraction or the heartbeat of fish. And humans.
The Sharks Board found a frequency that sharks can't stand, then developed a way to deliver that frequency on demand. Shark POD is the result, a five-pound backpack containing a battery and electronic components, which is linked by cable to a metal-plate electrode.
The backpack attaches to a diver's air tank, the electrode to a fin, and at the push of a button the wearer is immediately wrapped in a protective electronic cocoon that extends up to 20 feet away.
By Joe Shalmoni, Special to the Star-Bulletin
Jim Morris poses with Shark POD and gear.
After 90 minutes, a red light shows that the battery is low and you have 15 minutes to exit the water. When the red light flashes, you're on borrowed time. Literally."The beauty of this technology is that it doesn't hurt the shark, it just gives it a vibe that sends it away," Morris says. "Sharks won't be protected from humans unless people know they can go in the water and be safe from sharks."
Morris has been testing the POD across the United States for the South Africans, nerve-wracking work made more agonizing by occasional glitches.
"I'm putting that device where my mouth is," says Morris. "The worst part is, I've seen it fail."
A 10-foot blue shark ignored the device and shredded the game bag Morris was holding; a Caribbean reef shark nipped Morris on the hand when he activated the device; and during tests in Australia and South Africa, oceanic whitetips penetrated the barrier and a great white bit Shark POD when it came in for tuna bait."
"It probably would fail the most for spearfishermen trailing a bloody bag of twitching fish," says Morris. "And when a human is on the surface and a 3,500-pound great white is charging from 60 feet below with 15 knots of acceleration, I doubt that it could turn even it if wanted to evade the barrier."
Additionally, using the POD can be a shocking experience. The dental fillings of two crew members tingled even after they left the water, and a commercial abalone diver off the Farallon Islands was shocked a few times by the strong electrical field.
More worrisome to distributors, POD Holdings Ltd. has in some cases refused to issue product liability insurance to protect vendors in case the unit fails.
But Shark POD definitely has its fans, especially now that the price has dropped from $1,000 to $599 in some countries.
Heather Boswell was crewing aboard a research boat when a shark bit off her leg. When she finally returned to the ocean for the first time after the devastating attack, the Shark POD helped her feel safe.
"I wouldn't use it for most of my diving, I don't want the hassle of putting it on," says Morris.
But then there are those special times, such as diving off a reef at night for lobsters, or diving anytime in California's infamous Red Triangle, when he wouldn't be caught without the device.
Morris sees a multitude of uses for Shark POD in Hawaii, to keep people safe in areas where tiger sharks have been aggressive, and during search and rescue operations or salvage work in shark-infested waters.
Shark POD also could provide a compromise between a fearful public and Hawaiians who feel a strong tie to shark aumakua, a way that humans and sharks can coexist in peace and keep cultural practices intact.
The manufacturer is working on ways to make the device small enough for surfers and swimmers to use, and to fit onto life jackets.
But even if the technology is mostly used to replace shark nets in South Africa and Australia, it would provide a wonderful benefit to people as well as the sea creatures killed by the nets.
"If we're going into the ocean, we're taking that risk of attack," Morris says. "But we love the ocean enough to take that risk.
"If this technology can help reduce that risk and reduce the fear level of people, that can result in understanding of how valuable sharks are to the marine ecosystem, and help protect them."
