KAILUA-KONA — With the rollout of virtual reality “Shark Week” programming this week and increases in shark encounters over the past few years, some beachgoers might be a tad nervous about sticking their toes in the water.
That anxiety may largely be a product of the public’s — and media’s — imagination, but a new app is designed both to quell fears and provide real information about attacks on humans by the predators.
“SharkBytes” bills itself as the only tool of its kind that allows the user to search beaches next door or worldwide for shark incidents using GPS, and a push notification alerts users of the most recent shark attacks right on their smartphones.
Starting next week, users will be able to make detailed reports of their own encounters. The New York-based developer hopes the app, which now has about 12,000 users, will become the first stop for people wanting to gain or post information.
The app is designed to arm users with more than the hype surrounding the attacks, said Eric Knox, creator of the app and CEO of the nonprofit SharkBytes organization, which seeks in part to help conserve sharks through better information.
A person nervous about an attack at the beach a year earlier could go to the app and learn just how many — or few — attacks there have been at the spot over decades.
Chances are, they’re going to feel better rather than worse, Knox said.
“We’re hoping it’ll make people feel a lot safer,” he said.
The device allows users to search beaches near their location, or they can search by location name. The app has information on the type of attacks that have occurred on that beach, details on the victims and what they were doing in the water and specifics on the attacking animals if they are available.
Maui experienced three shark attacks so far this year, all of them minor, and a surfer on Kauai experienced lacerations to both hands after tangling with a 5-foot reef shark at Hanalei Bay. There have been no reported encounters on the Big Island in 2016, but the year prior saw injuries in separate attacks at Hapuna Beach, Upolu Point and Kahena Beach, and an encounter at Laaloa Beach Park.
Rather than vilifying the sharks, the app has educational material on more than 200 species, highlighting the animal’s vulnerability and showing they have much more to fear from humans than the other way around. Hundreds of thousands of sharks are caught by fishermen each day, and many have their fins cut off before they are returned to the water to die.
Reports of shark encounters will be verified before they’re posted, and the app features up-to-date information on beach closures because of encounters, Knox said. Most attack confirmations arrive via the media and government agencies and spread rapidly around the globe on the Internet, he said.
The app, which saw its first version launch in 2014, gets 4.5 stars from 247 reviews.
Info: http://www.sharkbytesapp.com