Killing It: Aussie Legends Develop And Publicly List Shark-Proof Wetsuits

Last week, a company called Shark Mitigation Systems had its Initial Public Opening. Why is is this remotely interesting? Well, because it started when a couple of dead-set legends trying to develop a better way of lowering the amount of shark attacks in Western Australia rather than killing heaps of sharks.

The company has been developing the technology via two testing processes to protect surfers. The first, being wetsuits adorned with patterns that they say have shown via testing that cause sharks to not recognise them as prey.  The patterns are already being used by Radiator wetsuits, Arena apparel, and Yahoo surfboards. The patterns were developed in partnership with the University of Western Australia’s Ocean Institute. Whilst the testing is comprehensive, they do issue a warning to users of the wetsuits and boards.

“All sharks are dangerous and unpredictable creatures. It is impossible for SMS to guarantee that 100% of sharks will be deterred under all circumstances with the SAMS technology.”

They have also developed a detection system called the “Clever Bouy” alongside Optus and with funding from Google, that uses newly developed sonar to detect the threat of Sharks near beaches and warn swimmers and surfers in real time. The ‘Clever Bouy’ is currently in the final stages of commercial development.

The feel good story here is a company using tech expertise and research to solve a problem that has been around since Human beings took to the water. Founders Hamish Jolly and Craig Anderson, both keen surfers have been able to apply their own expertise to their project in a way that nobody else has. They hope to roll out the Clever Bouy across Australian beaches.

The other encouraging element of this story is how commercially viable it is. Setting an example for other tech start ups and businesses to attempt solving problems in ways never thought possible. Or in most cases, ways that simply were not possible before. Certainly the incentive is there considering they were able to raise 3.5 million on there first I.P.O.

Lets hope that this trend continues and other start ups begin to apply themselves common problems especially in light of the financial incentives and backing from company’s like Google.