Can ‘bite-resistant’ wetsuits help protect surfers against sharks? Here’s what Australian researchers have found

Researchers attracted sharks using bait, which was replaced by a board padded in foam and covered by wetsuit material when a shark tried to eat the bait. Photograph: Flinders University

Shark bite-resistant wetsuits could reduce the severity of puncture wounds and blood loss caused by shark bites, an Australian study has found.

Researchers from Flinders University and the New South Wales primary industries department tested the level of protection provided by four modern “bite-resistant” wetsuit materials compared with standard neoprene, to bites from wild white and tiger sharks.