Google is coating its undersea cables with a Kevlar-like material because they are being attacked by sharks.

Dan Belcher, a Google product manager, said that the company will coat its trans-Pacific fibre-optic cables in a Kevlar-like material, usually reserved for making bulletproof vests.

Sharks have been attacking underwater fibre-optic cabling ever since it was first installed. In 1985, shark teeth were found stuck into a cable, and in 1987, shark attacks caused four segments of brand new cabling to fail. 

Scientists still aren’t sure why sharks are so into the cables, but there’s a hypothesis that they’re attracted to the magnetic fields generated by the high voltage running through the cables, Rich McCormick wrote for The Verge.

 

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