Although the Hollywood image of sharks has left many people afraid of the water, it is important to be aware of the fact that sharks are not seeking out humans as prey. In fact, shark attacks on humans usually only result in a single bite and they would prefer to eat their typical food rather than humans.



The hunter's diet is comprised of fish, seals, and other assorted sea creatures. We find them so terrifying in part because of the characteristics they've evolved to fit into their ecological niche: strength, agility, and an enormous number of teeth.

Frequently, what happens is that humans cause the sharks to attack by inadvertently copying natural animal activity. They swim way out in the ocean, paddling on their surf boards as they attempt to ride the crest of a great big wave. They don't realize that they seem just like injured seals to the sharks swimming nearby. The result is a very regrettable accident, like a swimmer getting sucked up in a fierce undertow. The people shouldn't be doing what they're doing where they're doing it.

Even so, only a dozen or so people, out of the millions that go to beaches every year, get killed by sharks. Additionally, there are only around 90 or so shark attacks each year and many of those are nudges or bumps that leave nothing more than bruises. Each is certainly a tragedy but looking at it in context, the events are accidental rather than malicious.

It is interesting that falling coconuts are more of a danger to people than sharks are. It is a rare event when even the aggressive sharks such as the great white shark or the tiger shark attack a human. Driving your car is vastly more dangerous as in the USA more than 40,000 people die from vehicle accidents each year.

Of course any victim of a shark attack deserves sympathy. But in the wake of a shark attack, pity the innocent sharks that will be killed because of fear, anger, or retaliation. A shark isn't like a person; you can't explain to it why it's being punished. Our two options are to eradicate sharks completely or learn to coexist with them in peace. And trying to get rid of all sharks just won't work.