I 



.t was the early 1940s. The 

 U.S. military's defensive actions 

 intensified as Japanese bombers circled 

 our Pacific coast and hostile subma- 

 rines plowed the western Atlantic. 



As some American sailors and 

 pilots became literally immersed in 

 ocean warfare, an impenetrable dread 

 punctured morale. An unseen attacker 

 lurked in the depths, poised to attack. 

 In the imaginations of many seamen, 

 it was more fearsome than a German 

 U-boat. It was an enemy they had not 

 been trained to combat. 

 It was the shark. 



It took only a few reports of shark 

 attacks on downed pilots and ship- 

 wrecked seamen to disperse a nauseat- 

 ing wave of fear. The U.S. Navy 

 quickly realized that something had 

 to be developed to protect its men, if 

 not from these creatures of the deep, 

 then from the panic they instilled. 



Though very little was known 

 about shark behavior, a team of 

 scientists hastily concocted a potion 

 to fill the bill. The Navy issued "Shark 

 Chaser," a mixture of black dye and 

 the chemical copper acetate, to all 

 personnel. When a survivor released it 

 into surrounding waters, the chemical 

 was thought to repel sharks and the 

 dye to obscure the would-be victim. 



During the 1950s, with the 

 scientific luxury of time and closer 

 evaluation, the failings of Shark Chaser 

 as a repellent surfaced. Unwittingly, 

 servicemen had been given a placebo. 

 At best, it was a psychological weapon 

 that empowered them to fend off what 

 might have become a debilitating fear. 

 But given the relatively few docu- 

 mented cases of shark attacks during 

 the war, relief of anxiety likely was 

 Shark Chaser's greatest asset. 



From the kinds of questions post- 

 war researchers were asking, it was 

 clear that we lacked a fundamental 



Sand tiger shark 



ingredient for any effective shark 

 repellent: knowledge. How much of 

 a danger did sharks really pose to 

 humans in the water? How many 

 species existed? How were they 

 identified? Which ones were known 

 to attack people? 



Forty years later, no one has 

 developed a surefire shark repellent. 

 But we know a lot more about sharks. 

 It just may be that a thoughtful 



understanding of these creatures is 

 the best line of defense. And ultimately, 

 it may be proven that they need protec- 

 tion more than we do. 



Like many divers and snorkelers, 

 underwater cinematographer Bill Lovin 

 has discovered a tried-and-true shark 

 repellent: his presence. 



"Contrary to what many people 

 think, sharks are really skittish," says 

 Lovin. This is why he must often "bait" 



4 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996 



