Last year, I did a test with SharkBanz worn around my ankle while swimming for 15 minutes offshore in Huntington Beach, California around 3 pm on a calm, overcast Monday afternoon.

The SharkBanz product is a shark deterrent tool that utilizes magnetic technology to create an effective shark deterrent that is always on and requires no batteries and no charging. Even though it is basically a big magnet worn around your ankles, I feel a bit more protected, a bit more comfortable swimming in an area where sharks exist.

When sharks approach the SharkBanz on the wrist or ankle of a swimmer, the sharks detect the device’s electromagnetic field, which provides a sudden sensation that is thousands of times stronger than the signal produced by anything in a shark’s normal food chain. Consequently, the shark is deterred away from SharkBanz. This cause and effect is analogous to having a bright light suddenly shined in your eyes in a dark room. You would not be hurt, but you do want to turn away.

Why did all kinds of small iron filings get attracted to the SharkBanz? I could not figure that out, but I guess there are a plethora of unseen microscopic iron filings that ocean swimmers and surfers swim through every single time they get in the Pacific Ocean in this area. It is a great reason to learn how not to swallow any water.

Educator Ken Finn of the Exploratorium, a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, gave insight why this iron – magnetic mineral magnetite – may be found in Southern California ocean waters as well as Ocean Beach in San Francisco.

SharkBanz are on sale on this Black Friday here. Get one for you and your friends.

For more information on SharkBanz.

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