Shark Shield question

I have a question for any users in the local north coast waters.  I'm considering buying Freedom7 Shark Shield.  Reading the specifications, the lower end of the temperature operating window is near the normal ocean temperatures of the north coast.  The colder the water, the faster the battery charge diminishes and the more inefficient the unit functions.  My questions:  How long has your charge lasted in local waters?  Has your unit actually deterred a shark (any species) or has it been that there were no sharks in the area?  Has it proved its worth by actually deterring, by visually witnessing, or does it just provide peace of mind?

I use one in the Monterey bay, which I think is a bit warmer than you.  I have had the charge last over 6 hours, the last time I went out it started beeping after about 3.

I have no idea if it has actually deterred a shark.  But it does let me imagine that it would.  So,  peace of mind.

Also,  I think of it like this.

I used to have this dog who loved to chase deer.  It was his passion.  When he saw a deer, all recall would go out the door.  I bought one of those electric fence things,  the ones with the collar.  He was super good about it, unless he saw a deer.  Then he would bolt.  He would be over the fence line before he knew it,  and while he would take the shock on the way over it, it was fast because he was moving fast.  Then,  he would be stuck on the other side of the fence when he finally gave up on chasing that deer.

I think that ultimately, this would probably work the same.  A curious shark coming up to check you out would be deterred by the shock.  A shark that was intent on attacking you would be inside the zone and hitting your kayak before it even registered the shock. 

This is all just guesses though.

I use one in the Monterey bay, which I think is a bit warmer than you.  I have had the charge last over 6 hours, the last time I went out it started beeping after about 3.

I have no idea if it has actually deterred a shark.  But it does let me imagine that it would.  So,  peace of mind.

Also,  I think of it like this.

I used to have this dog who loved to chase deer.  It was his passion.  When he saw a deer, all recall would go out the door.  I bought one of those electric fence things,  the ones with the collar.  He was super good about it, unless he saw a deer.  Then he would bolt.  He would be over the fence line before he knew it,  and while he would take the shock on the way over it, it was fast because he was moving fast.  Then,  he would be stuck on the other side of the fence when he finally gave up on chasing that deer.

I think that ultimately, this would probably work the same.  A curious shark coming up to check you out would be deterred by the shock.  A shark that was intent on attacking you would be inside the zone and hitting your kayak before it even registered the shock. 

This is all just guesses though.

One of the research articles theorizes something kind of like this. They say that since a shark expends a lot of energy on a Polaris attack, the shark usually spends some time scouting out the target before attacking. The electric pulse seems to make it look just fishy enough (pun intended) to deter an actual attack. On the other hand, if there is feeding frenzy going on, the electric deterrence is overwhelmed by all of the other sensory stimulation, and in that case the SS has no effect.

So, you are not likely to ever actually witness the SS deterring an attack, since the deterrence happens at an early stage in the process (like, before you’d even realize that you are being stalked).

...like, before you’d even realize that you are being stalked).

Peace of mind... do you really want to be stalked by a GWS? 

I had an old 1st gen SS that held a charge for 6 hours until it finally stopped charging. I exchanged it for a new 2nd gen unit that also operates for about 6 hours on a full charge. This is in waters off Santa Cruz etc, so say in the mid-to-upper 50s on average.

I have had a single instance a few years back while using my 1st gen unit when I watched a white shark approx 10-12' long circle around me on the surface about 12-15 feet away, until it got within the sphere of the SS and then it lit up brightly and fled at full speed. I do believe this was the reaction to the SS pulse.