Sharks are, arguably, the most feared animals in the ocean. Somewhat unfairly, they have gained a reputation as terrible brutes that can\u2019t resist the taste of humans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stats show that this just isn\u2019t the case. Seven people died from shark bites in 2024, according to the\u00a0International Shark Attack File<\/a>. For comparison, more than 100 die annually by getting caught in a\u00a0rip current.<\/a>\u00a0The risk of a shark fatality is incredibly low, especially considering that around\u00a0one billion<\/a>\u00a0people live within 10 km (6.2 miles) of a coastline.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sharks have been on the planet for around\u00a0450 million years<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 that\u2019s longer then trees, let alone humans. Us landlubbers just aren\u2019t their natural prey.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are more than 500 different species of shark, each with their own dietary preferences. Some, like gargantuan\u00a0whale sharks<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0basking sharks<\/a>, feed on tiny plankton while others snack on fish or small crustaceans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course, accidents happen. \u201cSharks have been known to attack humans when they are confused or curious,\u201d according to\u00a0NOAA<\/a>\u2019s website. \u201cIf a shark sees a human splashing in the water, it may try to investigate, leading to an accidental attack.\u201d<\/p>\n The International Shark Attack File\u2019s records<\/a>, which go back more than 125 years, show\u00a0fewer than 25\u00a0species have bitten humans.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, even if the first bite was accidental, once a shark has had a taste of us, are they hooked forever? As much as movies would like us to believe that a switch flips in their head that makes them crave human meat (ahem,\u00a0Jaws\u2026),\u00a0this isn\u2019t known to happen. Shark bites are usually a case of tragic mistaken identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRogue sharks are fictional depictions of sharks that develops a taste for people,\u201d says\u00a0the Florida Museum<\/a>\u00a0on its website. \u201cThere is no scientific evidence that individual sharks repeatedly bite or hunt humans.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Think about it. The species of shark most likely to bite humans are\u00a0great whites<\/a>,\u00a0bull sharks<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0tiger sharks<\/a>. For these large predatory sharks, which need lots of energy, the thick blubber of a whale or seal is much more appealing than our bony little bodies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Although bites are incredibly rare, you can minimise your risk of a negative encounter by avoiding in murky water, near fishers, or at dusk or dawn, taking off shiny jewellery (the sparkles can attract sharks) and never swimming alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n Top image: Getty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sharks are, arguably, the most feared animals in the ocean. Somewhat unfairly, they have gained a reputation as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-448323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=448323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/448324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=448323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=448323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=448323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}