Laser-toting sharks were the dream of supervillain Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies, but a social media campaign has turned fiction into reality.
Marine biologist and television personality Luke Tipple strapped a 50-milliwatt green laser onto the dorsal fin of a lemon shark off the coast of the Bahamas last week.
But the world’s first laser shark- named Mr. Bigglesworth in honour of Dr. Evil’s feline sidekick – won’t be patrolling the depths any time soon.
Tipple, who has appeared on Myth-busters and the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week programs, removed the laser after a brief experiment. Steven Campana, a marine biologist and head of the Canadian Shark Research Laboratory, said he doesn’t want to see this stunt set a precedent for others.
Wicked Lasers, a laser manufacturer that sells a variety of lasers online, promised to affix one of its lasers to a shark if one of the company’s Facebook postings received more than 2,000 “likes” within a few weeks.
When they reached that goal, the company followed through on its word, hiring Tipple to perform the feat that Dr. Evil dreamt about in the first Austin Powers film.
