The fifth time proved the charm for long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, who on Monday accomplished her lifeling dream of swimming from Cuba to Florida, a distance of 110 miles. On her latest attempt, the tenacious 64-year-old had a little help from new anti-jellyfish measures developed by scientists and prosthetics makers.
Australian swimmer Susie Maroney was the first person to make the watery trek in 1997 at the age of 22, but she swam within the protective confines of a shark cage. Nyad had no such protection, but she did have other anti-shark measures in place. On all of her swims, the accompanying kayakers have special sonar-emitting devices strapped to their craft that drive away sharks that come within a limited radius. Nyad’s team also keeps a shark-repelling chemical mixture tied to one of their boats.
There are also safety divers standing by to deal with sharks. As Nyad explained in a July blog post, if a shark had ever gotten dangerously close to her, the divers would have used special PVC piping to prod the animal to draw its attention away from her. They do not use guns or spears.
“We will not under any circumstances kill an animal on our crossing,” Nyad wrote.
(From International Business Times)
