Rusty Surfboards will emblazon its famous sticks with zebra-esque shark deterrent patterns for boards sold in Australia and New Zealand.
The iconic San Diego brand has licensed the patterns from Shark Mitigation Systems, the Perth, Australia-based company behind the patterns and the Clever Buoy, a shark deterrent technology being tested in Australia.
Rusty will pump out the boards from its Australian base of operations, also located in Perth. The deal could mean R Dot sticks with the patterns may show up elsewhere, as “further distribution deals with Rusty could be done in other markets,” according to Business News Western Australia.
Rusty has licensed these shark deterrent patterns for its boards. Photo: Perth Now
A spokesman for Shark Mitigation Systems said in the article linked above that, “With a rich history in Western Australia, the brand is all too familiar with the need to reduce the personal risk of shark attack for surfers across the globe.”
As we’ve discussed on The Inertia, Shark Mitigation Systems recently published results from studies done in South Africa that they claim prove their patterns warded off attacks by great white sharks. In the study, sharks attacked regular wetsuits about three times faster than wetsuits with their patterns.
On its website, the company says that its patterns could potentially end up on “many marine applications, including skins and stickers for diving air tanks, diving fins, surfboards, kayaks, skis, watercraft, undersea cabling, and marine equipment.”
