Neil Campbell is “passionately convinced” he has a legitimate shark deterring product: a pungent block of wax for the deck of your surfboard. Using everything from childhood theories to cayenne pepper and tea tree oil, he’s created Chillax Surf Wax, the organic wax he claims will deter apex predators from getting a little too close for your comfort in the lineup. How will it work? Simply put, the idea is to make surfers smell unpleasant to sharks.
But without scientific research to back any of the Chillax claims, Campbell would need to rely on the public’s typically irrational fear of sharks to have much business success with his product. He’s been clear to market Chillax as a deterrent and not a repellent, and at least in this forum he’s been careful not to “guarantee” the eucalyptus, chilli, cloves, cayenne pepper, neem, tea tree oil, citronella, coconut and beeswax mixture will help you keep all your fingers and toes. My guess is if you’re buying shark deterring wax you probably aren’t worried about guarantees in the first place.
The whole idea started for Mr. Campbell with a childhood practice of covering himself with things like Tiger Balm and tea tree oil before entering the ocean, all with the belief that it would make him smell less like shark food. He says it’s the same idea applied to deterring grizzly bears, dogs, leeches, brown snakes and mosquitoes and flies with mixtures of spices and “natural smells.”
Nope, not flan. Probably not shark deterrent, either.
Common sense would tell you a purchase of shark deterring surf wax is really just a purchase for peace of mind at this point. So Campbell’s finally setting out to do what he said he planned all along; he’s going to put the wax under scientific trials. A crowdfunding campaign for Chillax Surf Wax is set to raise $22,000 AUD for three days of testing the wax in sharky waters.
“Every ingredient in Chillax, either alone or in combination with others, has a record of either protection, deterrence or repellence across a range of species,” Campbell says in a statement on the campaign page. “My contention is that together they will take surfers off the shark’s menu.”
The three day charter with Rodney Fox Shark Expeditions will observe and record the reactions of sharks off of South Australia’s Neptune Islands against floating bait with and without Chillax coating. He’s enlisted the help of Professor Charlie Huveneers, a senior lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences, to run the tests.
“It will be extensive and thorough as well as registering the reaction of sharks both underwater and above using cameras and so forth,” Campbell says.
“Then we can attach the word deterrent to the product, which I’m passionately convinced it is.”
But why muddy such an awkward concept with silly little things like “science” and facts? Short of an infomercial with real life talking sharks endorsing Chillax, who knows how much the market will grow for shark deterrent wax?
