4 DANGEROUS MARINE ANIMALS 



sequently shown that the potent factor in the decomposing meat was 

 ammonium acetate. It was later decided that a dye should be added 

 in order to hide the swimmer from view. Finally a chemical packet 

 was developed which combined a nigrosine dye with copper acetate. 

 This compound was later given the popular but somewhat mis- 

 leading name, shark chaser. According to the research reports 

 conducted at that time, this compound was said to be highly effective 

 under normal feeding conditions of the shark. There are varying 

 opinions as to the effectiveness of the repellent in the field under 

 "mob feeding" conditions. At any rate, it is the best repellent avail- 

 able at present, and is currently used on life preservers for the U. S. 

 Armed Forces. The material is commercially produced by the 

 Shark Chaser Chemical Company, San Pedro, California. 



About the time that the American researchers were conducting 

 their investigations on shark repellents, similar studies were going 

 on in Australia under the auspices of the Commonwealth Scientific 

 and Industrial Research Organization. Their conclusions were 

 essentially the same as those of the American workers. 



Because of the high incidence of shark attacks along the coast 

 of New South Wales, the local government instituted a Shark Men- 

 ace Advisory Committee to investigate methods of protecting 

 bathers from shark attacks. As a result of their studies, a program 

 in meshing was begun, consisting of laying a long rope net over- 

 night near the beach and removing it by trawler in the morning. 

 This technique has proved to be highly efficacious and is still 

 employed. 



The leading Australian medical authority on shark attacks is 

 Dr. V. M. Coppleson, who is currently preparing a book on the 

 subject. 



Dr. George Llano, formerly of the Arctic, Desert, Tropic, Infor- 

 mation Center, Department of the Air Force, Maxwell Air Force 

 Base, Alabama, is probably the best American authority on the 

 subject of shark attacks. For many years he has been compiling 

 data on this problem with the hope of preparing a treatise on shark 

 attacks at some future date. The habits and biology of sharks have 

 been studied intensively by Mr. Stewart Springer of the Fish and 

 Wildlife Service, Department of Interior, Washington, D. C. 



One of the most recent and valuable scientific works on the iden- 

 tification and biology of sharks is by Bigelow and Schroeder in their 

 series on the Fishes of the Western North Atlantic (1948). 



