I am posting this message in response to eroneous claims about my product, Sharkcamo.
I am a surfer who six years ago witnessed a documentary where shark experts proved sharks would not attack a pole filled with chum that had a distinct striped pattern. They had no practical application for their find, but I did.
Initial field test were conducted at False Bay SA and confirmed Great Whites would not bite or bump a surfboard with our pattern. The zebra pattern is used because it protects you from different angles of attack.
Recent research concludes that a visual cue, not sound, smell, or electromagnetic field, engages a sharks “prey reflex” resulting in an attack.
Sharkcamo works because of a genetic imprint sharks possess that prevents them from eating certain striped fish.
I am not the genius behind this product, Mother Nature is.
sincerely
Cash McConnell
i saw this on page 396 and was woundering if this is true or not i dont know much bout shark other than they’re like big dogs if u freck out they attack and u splash them or punch them in the face but that sounds pretty cool
I dunno if it works or not, but in 42 years of surfing I’ve never been attacked… bumped once, checked out a couple times… even when I used to ride a board I called the “bleeding seal” because of its paint job… although a couple tigers were seen circling me when I was paddling around in Hanalei Bay.
I just like to think sharks don’t want to attack me… I’m not their food… out of sight, out of mind… surf with friends who paddle slower than you ; )
The pattern on your board reminds me of those ink splotch the shrink shows you. My uncle was a psychologist and took me when I was a kid to the jail and he ran the things on a prisoner. They all looked like vaginas to me. The prisoner said everything but vagina. Even I knew something was wrong with his brain. Yes, yours reminds me of a vagina too. Maybe something wrong with my brain? Mike
Tell me how you FEEL about your teacher , and the other students … do you want to kill Mr. Hand , and sleep with Miss Palmer [and her five daughters …] ??"
Must have been a rorschach childhood eh ? *
oh well , at least it drove you screaming into the ocean for company , so it’s all god in the end ?
ben[t]
Blot Test font family : MyFontsDuring the 1940’s and 50’s the “Rorschach Ink Blot Test” was the preferred choice for testing patients by clinical psychologists. Later it was criticized as …
The only possible reason to put a pattern on the BOTTOM of your board is for your own peace of mind.
Seen from below, we all - surfers and natural prey - will be a dark mass. It’s the movement and any odd smells given off that make us prey. With the light above, from below we’re seen in shadow.
But maybe Uncle D is on to something. If what Rooster says is true and Uncle D’s design is a vagina and he’s never been attacked, it just might be that the drastic decline in shark populations is not because of over fishing - especially by Japan!!! - maybe sharks are just gay…hungry, but gay…
Plus, this has been hashed over before - check the archives…
i know just what u mean my freind’s mom and dad are both psychologist it sucks
but once like 2 years ago i went to one because my perants thought i was mad at everyone (it was just them)but they gave me the ink blot test and i was like that looks like fluffy bunny, that one looks like dog… (then i thought of somthing funny to do) so on the next one he says what does this look like so im just like bloody “umm ok and this” death “yeah and this” gore anyway they tol my dad and he was pissed cuz i was messing round with the guy and i wasted their money or somthing i was lession
Thats what I thought I had learned. When backlit from above, all you look like is a wounded seal thrashing around on top. All that shows are the statistics are a better self assurance than stripes on the boards.
My insurance policy is karma. I spend to much time in the water to eat shark. I just think it comes back to me in a good way…
You guys are “killing me.” When I say kid, I was 20 years old or so. My uncle was showing me and teaching me what he was doing. He gave people a battery of test and was looking for signs of brain damage as the source personality problems. This was before the current technology available to look for brain lesions, etc. Mostly, what he gave to his patients, was good sober advice. Like, if the guy is beating you maybe you should just divorce the bastard. The same type of advice he gave to all of us. I like the design on Uncle D’s board. I could put a vagina on my board and not get thrown in jail or stoned from the hard core feminist. Hope the sharks don’t like it. Mike
Howzit kendall, Hanalei has plenty of tigers(and other sharks) in the area since it’s an off ramp from the shark freeway that runs along the Napali coast. Have a friend who used to fish for sharks just outside the bay and after catching over 600 of them he said there’s no end to the shark population there. I’ve had my own run in with a 10-12 footer at flat rock who was right behind me while paddling for and catching a nice 4 foot wave one afternoon,don’t know what would have happened if I’d missed the wave. With all the turtles in the bay it’s like a buffet for sharks.There’s a 20’ plus tiger that hangs around summer break that we call Grandpa.Aloha,Kokua
After the sharks were spotted doing their circles around us. the beach was closed to swimmers. I’m walking up the beach and run into Doug Blackburn - from the gingerbread house by the pavillion - coming the other way with a board under his arm. I tell him two tigers were out there swimming around and point to one of the newly placed shark danger signs. His response - “great, fewer surfers”.
When the shark camo promoters persuade the Discovery Shark Week team to paint one of their seal dummies like that, and tow it around Cape Province SA and the Farallones for a couple of weeks without inducing a strike, I’ll concede that they might have something. Until then, I’ll just watch where and when I surf and stay alert. BTW, if anyone is interested, I have some fantastic rhinoceros repellent available at $20 per ounce. Been using it for 12 years in NJ, and haven’t been bothered by a water horse yet…
Coincidence…I don’t think so! I have the same product that keeps Elephants from getting entangled in my leash. 30 yrs elephant free I might add! Just rub it all over your leash and deck plug, Presto!! I’m working on expanding it to all large mammals…Having a bit of a problem with seal lions.
But sir, I might have to sue you for copyright enfringement.
I’m sure I saw some doco where they were towing a striped chum thing behind a boat, and they had video of the sharks charging up at it, and then turning away at the last moment. They also had footage of some normal bait being towed which got munched as you’d expect.
I’ve seen the wetsuits with that anti-shark pattern on them for sale at one of the shops in Pacifica. Made by the same folks that make the stickers for your board.
I think it’d be pretty goofy looking to be all decked in that stuff though. In my mind it projects the wrong mental attitude - like you think you’re food and need protection. Be the big dog - show no fear and you won’t be a victim.
I’m more worried about the 14 year-old girls who can out paddle me and snake my waves.
I’d be interested if you do recall the name of the program. One other potential problem lies in the assumption that what repels one species of shark repels them all. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the pattern in question does repel tiger sharks. Does that necessarily mean that it repels Bulls, Great Whites, and White Tips? What if it actually stimulates the feeding urge in one of those species? I think I’ll continue to participate in the Great Shark Dietary Experiment using the same equipment as I have been for the last 40 years - it’s free and I’m used to it :->
When the shark camo promoters persuade the Discovery Shark Week team to paint one of their seal dummies like that, and tow it around Cape Province SA and the Farallones for a couple of weeks without inducing a strike, I’ll concede that they might have something. Until then, I’ll just watch where and when I surf and stay alert. BTW, if anyone is interested, I have some fantastic rhinoceros repellent available at $20 per ounce. Been using it for 12 years in NJ, and haven’t been bothered by a water horse yet…
-Samiams
They claim to have tested it at False Bay near Seal Island and Muizenberg… I’ll be there in a few weeks so I’ll ask the natives if they’ve seen it or heard of it. One thing I heard from the locals down there, the sharks are home and they are ACTIVE one attack last week on a lifeguard and leash nibbling at Kalk Baai… Jislaaik!!!
Good point about the other sharks though. Another thing is that if people think they’re immune to shark attacks they might start surfing more in sharky spots, could end up with more attacks rather than less.
