A new wetsuit has built in shark-confusing technology that will render surfers invisible to the dangerous sea beasts.
Scientists studied how sharks see their prey, and designed suits using specific colors and patterns meant deter the aquatic predators, a University of Western Australia press release reported.
One of the designs, called the "cryptic" wet suit, camouflages the wearer by helping them to blend in with their environment.
The other approach is called the "warning" wetsuit. It uses an opposite tactic, loud patterns make the surfer highly visible to sharks in hopes it will make them look unlike any prey.
"Many animals in biology are repelled by noxious animals - prey that provide a signal that somehow says 'Don't eat me' - and that has been manifest in a striped pattern," Professor Shaun Collin, from UWA's Oceans Institute and School of Animal Biology, said, according to The Guardian.
"We are using a lot of nature's technology, based on high-contrast-based banding patterns. The wearer will be obvious, and the idea is the shark will see that as an unpalatable food item and swim right by," he said.
The suits were tested with tiger sharks, the researchers plan to do more testing with great white sharks off the coasts of South Africa and Southern Australia. They have not yet been tested on human.
While the suits can't guarantee the wearers safety, the success in studies with live sharks was "extraordinary," according to the UWA press release.
"We believe that an understanding of the basic neurobiology of the sensory capabilities of sharks is essential to translating this knowledge into ways to help the public reduce the risk of shark attacks," Collins said.
The suits will cost $495 and will be distributed via Radiator.
There were 53 shark attacks in 2012 in the U.S. alone, a University of Florida press release reported.
In 2012 there were 80 unprovoked attacks worldwide, seven of which were fatal.
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