It is early morning on the Australian coast and the ocean looks deceptively… simple. A clean set rolls in, gulls trace lazy arcs overhead and a few surfers sit just beyond the break waiting for the next wave. From the shore, it is hard to imagine the invisible calculations happening beneath the surface. Temperature gradients, baitfish movements, currents shifting like slow conveyor belts of energy. And somewhere in that same water column, sharks are moving through a landscape that has existed long before any of us paddled out. For surfers, this shared space has always carried a mix of awe and unease. Not fear in the simplistic sense, but awareness that the ocean is alive in ways we are still trying to understand.

So what happens when we try to design technology that fits into that reality instead of working against it?

That is the question a new Australian research project is wanting to answer, developing smart surfboard fins designed to reduce shark encounters while preserving the feel and performance surfers rely on. At first glance, surfboard fins might seem like an unlikely place for high-tech innovation. I mean, they are small, and often overlooked components of a board. Yet anyone who surfs knows they are essential in determining how a board turns, how it holds in a wave face and how responsive it feels underfoot. Change the fin and you change the entire experience. But what if fins could also help reduce the likelihood of shark encounters?

The concept sounds futuristic, but the proposed designs are grounded in emerging materials science. It is a marriage between industry and academia, including Gowing Bros Ltd , University of New South Wales Sydney , the Australian Composites Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre and Univeristy of Wollongong ’s Surf Flex Lab . “Our focus is on ensuring these new fins perform just as well as traditional designs while incorporating advanced shark-deterrent technologies. Surfers won’t adopt safety innovations if they come at the expense of flex, responsiveness, and manoeuvrability,” director of the Surf Flex Lab at the University of Wollongong Professor in het Panhuis said in a press release . “This is about creating a solution that works in real conditions without compromising on critical board design features. By combining our expertise in surf engineering with advanced manufacturing techniques, we’re creating a practical way for surfers and sharks to share the ocean more safely.” The Surf Flex Lab is not only involved in design. It is also responsible for testing and manufacturing processes, including exploring automated production methods, composite material deposition and scalable manufacturing systems that could eventually support commercial rollout.

The prototype fins are expected to be embedded with shark-repellent technologies including miniaturised sensors, electromagnetic systems and illumination features. All of these technologies are being explored for their potential to influence how sharks perceive or interact with a surfboard in the water, without harming the animals or disrupting the marine environment. “Innovative composite manufacturing and technology can have life-changing impacts. By embedding functional technologies into lightweight, composite materials we can support both innovation and practical application, delivering the next generation of surfboards at a time when shark attacks are apparently on the rise,” ACM CRC CEO Luke Preston said.

It is important to be clear about what this project is and is not. It is not about eliminating sharks from coastal ecosystems, nor about turning the ocean into a controlled or sanitized space. Instead, it is an attempt to reduce the chance of negative encounters. Is this what coexistence looks like in practice? We often frame human-wildlife interactions as something to manage or mitigate, but the ocean does not operate on those terms. Sharks are not intruders in coastal ecosystems, they are part of them, so when we design technologies aimed at reducing encounters, we are really trying to adjust the boundaries of interaction rather than eliminate one side of the equation. Field testing will be critical as laboratory results can only tell part of the story and real-world surfing introduces variables that cannot be fully replicated (i.e., murky water, shifting currents, changing light conditions, unpredictable animal behavior). Every new dataset gathered from field trials will help refine not only equipment design but also our broader understanding of coastal ecosystems.

There is something thrilling about the idea of surfers, engineers and marine scientists working toward a shared goal in the same physical space. It reflects a mindset shift in how we approach ocean safety away from simple avoidance and toward more integrated systems of coexistence. Still, one question lingers. If technology can subtly reshape interactions in the ocean, what else might it eventually change? And how do we ensure that in solving one problem, we remain attentive to the larger system we are part of?

For now, the work continues in labs, workshops and eventually in the waves themselves.