Abstract
The nature of the sharkbite phenomenon is presented. The physical nature of the faults and their location along the OPTICAN-1 route are described. The morphology of the shark teeth recovered, and the identification and nature of the sharks believed responsible are discussed. A hypothesis as to the cause of the attacks, based on the findings of previous shark-sensory research, is detailed. The methods and results of an experimental program aimed at verifying this hypothesis are summarized. The results of development programs aimed at resolving this problem are presented. Two avenues were pursued: the first was the development of a mechanically protected SL deep-water, repeated lightwave trunk cable for use in areas of high sharkbite risk; the second was the development of a methodology to assess the sharkbite risk in different areas of the world's oceans. The resultant algorithm, for use in specifying the amount of protected cable to be deployed in an SL system is detailed.