GWS, Satistics, Color

[flydigital]

It's no secret that many of the folks on here believe that RED kayaks attract sharks.

Just my luck that I am trying to sell a RED kayak. People just aren't interested (from here). Interesting. So I did some [more] research.

It turns out that statistically, RED is one of the safest colors when concerned with shark attacks. A simple google search for "shark attacks and color" brings up the goods. BLACK and GREY are far more edible according to the record.

Interestingly, it was also recently determined that despite previous assumptions, sharks are color blind: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/outp...k-attacks.html

Now, there is no data I could find in regards to kayaks, but I can tell you that Red is a popular color for a kayak. Maybe one of the most popular besides yellow. Why? Because of the safety and visibility factor I imagine. That's why I picked red when I started kayaking and have kept with it. All my kayaks have been red.

FWIW I have been kayak fishing for about 8 years now ALL on red kayaks. Until a few nights ago (when color did not matter) I had never encountered a toothy shark on a kayak. That night an approx 10ft Mako briefly harassed me and a buddy (in an OLIVE kayak) as we made our way out to the fishing grounds but it was uneventful after a few expletives were said and checking of shorts ensued. Despite having never seen a shark (during the day) in a red kayak, I have seen upwards of a dozen GWS over the years, while surfing or while on a boat (never a red surfboard or boat!).

We've all seen the MythBusters where they chum up some GWS, get them all agitated and then introduce 3 different color dummies and see how they react. No shit, the first dummy in black gets minor curiosity, the second dummy in red gets a little more curiosity, and the third in yellow gets lots of love. But I have to laugh at this "test". Of course the sharks are more interested in the later dummies. In my experience watching all these shark shows, they always get more ballsy and curious as time goes on. What if they introduced RED first? While Mythbusters is pretty cool much of what they do is extremely far from "science".

Anyway, I am hoping to promote discussion of real facts in this matter, instead of preconceptions or myths. If there is some real data out there in reference to shark encounters and the color red please enlighten me and the rest of us. Would like to hear your opinion too, your own experience, etc. that can help us all put this into perspective.

From my side, I don't think any color is more prone to shark attacks or "encounters" than any other. Sharks are scanning up and only seeing dark silhouettes, even if they do see in color (which sounds impossible from recent studies). Like anything that sees, higher contrast is more visible. But then again natural prey is not high contrast. We know sharks are curious and will investigate just about anything. We know they have a great sense of smell and can sense water pressure changes and electric fields. In my own experience GWS are most attracted to splashing water... especially when an object enters the water loudly. In fact the majority of GWS attacks occur within the first 3 minutes of someone entering the water. Anyway, I think RED really is the safest kayak color out there even considering sharks.

What do you think?