Fatal shark bites are vanishingly rare, with fewer than 50 unprovoked shark bites on humans worldwide in 2024, according to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
But increased sightings of large sharks in some parts of the world have swimmers, surfers and divers looking for new ways to stay safe.

WGCU's Marc Garber reports.

[Marc Garber:] Australian scientists report promising results after testing the strength of bite-resistant wetsuits by allowing sharks to chomp the materials at sea. And they have found that the suits can improve water safety.

Researchers at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, tested four bite-resistant materials and found that they all reduce the amount of damage from shark bites.

Nick Whitney is a senior scientist and chair of the fisheries science and emerging technologies program at New England Aquarium’s Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. He says the scientists performed the work by dragging samples of the materials behind boats and allowing white and tiger sharks to bite the samples.

[Nick Whitney:] "It looks like they developed the material a few years ago but I think this is the first real scientific test of that material on live shark in terms of how well it prevents damage when a shark actually bites it."

[MG:] Whitney, who was not involved in the study, says newer wetsuits can be designed to provide protection as well as flexibility. But the researchers warn that the suits do not eliminate all risks from sharks, and precautions still need to be taken around the animals.

[NW:] "So I like this technology, the fact that it's protecting you in a specific area and it's designed to make you safer than you would be in a normal wetsuit but probably not encouraging major risk taking. It probably is not making anyone feel invincible."

[MG:] Whitney says that bites from large sharks can still cause internal and crushing injuries, but the bite-resistant materials showed effectiveness beyond a standard neoprene wetsuit.
The research found that they offer an improved level of protection that can reduce severe wounds sustained in shark encounters.

[NW:] "Most people who do die from shark bites, it's from blood loss, it's not from losing, you know, being eaten or carried away or anything. It's typically a bite and release, and they bleed to death. So, the goal of these suits is to protect you in specific areas and buy extra time for you to get to the beach and get to lifeguards and get medical assistance."

[MG:] For WGCU News, I'm Marc Garber.