SharkTagger.org

One of the devices we tested last week was the RPELX ‘deep-drop’ shark deterrent™

This is an electrical deterrent of 200 volts that attaches to the fishing line. The RPELX is depth rated to 100 m and is useful for fishing in shallower environments or trolling. The device has a 3m electromagnetic field to deter sharks.

Summary::

The RPELX had a really strong deterrent effect on oceanic whitetips at the surface (swipe to see videos). The sharks showed an obvious reaction and turned away multiple times (but did come back each time).

This device works best in shallow (< 100 m) environments, so is best to slide down the line while trolling or if a shark is depredating in the top 100 m.

However, it was tricky to find an optimal configuration for the RPELX and fishing with make dogs at the FADs. Because the device was stopped at the bag, so couldn’t slide down to be within 3ft of the hook.

🦈 NEW RE-SIGHT 🦈

This female oceanic whitetip was first sighted at FAD C on 1-Feb-2022 by .kayleigh @ . She hung around FAD C for the next week, and the team sighted her twice more on the 6th and 9th of February and then .boyd.underwater of Seadog Productions photographed her on the 14th February 2022.

Fishers often report oceanic whitetips sitting on the FADs and these consistent resights corroborate these observations. Our acoustic data also show similar residency behaviors to some extent, although we find a lot of individual variability in FAD residency times. Some individuals spend a few hours at a FAD while others hang around for days or weeks. Then disappear for extended periods of time before being redetected again.

Awesomely, 10 months later on 17 December 2022 this lady was spotted again back at FAD VV by .kayleigh & team.

Fast forward a bit over two years later and this same gal was encountered back at FAD VV on 14 Feb 2025, by & !

It’s so amazing to see she is still looking super healthy and completely clean of fishing gear! Hopefully she stays smart and avoids fishing interactions!

Mahalo as always to everyone who submits their imagery!

📸 .kayleigh .boyd.underwater