First off, it should be said that getting bitten by a shark is extremely rare: about one in 3.748 million, on average, according to the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File. By comparison, your odds of getting struck by lighting are one in 79,746.
However, scientists looking into the waters of Australia — where shark attacks are still rare, but more common — say a new bit of wearable tech might stop someone from getting bitten.
According to a study from Flinders University in the Land Down Under, electronic deterrents that mess with a shark’s natural ability to target prey can save lives.
Their findings, published in the scientific journalRoyal Society Open Science, showed that the devices could reduce the likelihood of a bite by about 60%, “potentially saving hundreds of lives over the next 50 years.”
The researchers looked into the 985 attacks from the Australian Shark Attack File from 1900 to 2020, determining that 60% could have been avoided, had such technology existed at that time.
What’s more, projecting these estimates further into the future, the scientists say 1,063 Australians could be saved over the next 50 years.
For the record, there were 33 shark attacks in the U.S. in 2020, three of which were fatal. 2015 was the most active year in the U.S. for shark attacks in the U.S., with 59, though none were fatal. That said, researchers say a third of survivors experience post-traumatic stress disorder after being bitten.