There may be no single fear as intense and as widespread as the one associated with sharks - they even inhabit the nightmares of people who don't swim! But do sharks have a boogeyman they are afraid of? Well, it turns out they do.
Just like we check under our beds for monsters, sharks check for dolphins before nodding off. That's right, the toughest kids on the undersea block swim in fear of dolphins.
"When most people see a shark, they freak," said Jim Howe, Hawaii's ocean safety chief of operations, but their panicked movements have been known to draw the shark even closer. "[When a shark approaches], nine times out of ten, they'll just kind of leave you alone," Howe told The Huffington Post.
Sharks are usually intimidated by divers and keep their distance, unless bait is involved. Diving with sharks is not an adrenaline filled crazy stunt.
“Evolutionarily, we're hardwired to pay attention to things that can harm us, which is one reason why I think people actually like to be scared of sharks,” explains shark biologist Chris Lowe. “It's something that Steven Spielberg figured out 40 years ago.
Most sharks are not dangerous to humans — people are not part of their natural diet. Despite their scary reputation, sharks rarely ever attack humans and would much rather feed on fish and marine mammals.
Sharks do not circle in the water before they attack, it is simply their way of trying to form an image of what they are confronting in the water. According to my own numerous observations this motion is a sign of pure curiosity and not an incentive to circle its prey and feed.
Slowly back away
Try not to thrash and splash around as you gradually swim backwards toward shore. “You must try and keep the animal in sight and very slowly and gently try and swim backwards and get into shallow water. Again, you've got to be careful – large sharks can attack in very shallow depths.”
ESDs aim to overwhelm a shark's electro-sensory system. They emit electrical pulses (each one does so in a different way) that are supposed to repel the shark. So far, ESDs have been the most effective type of personal shark repellent.
FICTION: Sharks are attracted to human blood, so if you cut yourself at the beach, you will be attracting sharks. FACT: Sharks know the difference between fish and human blood and, while they can smell our blood, it is not a scent they associate with food.
Since sharks see contrast colors, anything that is very bright against lighter or darker skin can look like a bait fish to a shark. For this reason, he suggests swimmers avoid wearing yellow, white, or even bathing suits with contrasting colors, like black and white.
Sharks prefer to avoid dolphins. Dolphins are mammals that live in pods and are very clever. They know how to protect themselves. When they see an aggressive shark, they immediately attack it with the whole pod.
Sharks are apex predators, meaning they sit at the top of the food chain. Sharks help preserve the fragile balance of ecosystems by keeping other populations in check. They keep populations healthy, too, by dining on the sickest and weakest of their prey so that the healthy can thrive.
Swimmers want to make sure that they avoid going in the water in the dark as well because that's when sharks are more active. But, if a shark is near you in the water, stay calm and don't flail your arms. Experts say the best thing to do is to swim slowly and keep eye contact with the shark.
Go for the shark's most sensitive areas – its nose, its gills, and especially its eyes. Dig in and keep pressing until it lets you go. Remember that sharks will often thrash around once they have a bite, so if you can, give it a “hug”.
Sharks help keep the carbon cycle in motion.
When they die naturally, they sink to the seafloor, where they are eaten by scavengers. However, when they are hunted by humans, they are removed from the ocean, disrupting the ocean's carbon cycle.
The odds of being attacked and killed by a shark are 1 in 3,748,067 (0,000026 percent), which means that there are 18 diseases and accidental causes of death more likely to kill you during your lifetime than the ocean's predator.
*If they knew they would survive without long-term damage or ill effects. You have an 89.4% chance of surviving a shark attack.
When and where do sharks attack? From 2021-2022, New South Wales and Western Australia were the most common states for human/shark interactions in Australia, with 14 cases within each state. This was followed by Queensland with 3 cases and Victoria with 2 cases.
If the sharks are circling, then something is in danger and its enemies are getting ready for the kill.
Most attacks world-wide happen between 8.00 am and 6.00 pm and mostly on weekend during the warmer seasons of the year.