Just the mention of the word “shark” still strikes fear into the hearts of most people. The word evokes images of huge maneaters, like the great white shark in the movie Jaws, that attack swimmers and divers, tear them to pieces or even swallow them whole. Such brutal attacks can and do occur but not to the extent that most of us imagine. In 2025 the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History recorded 65 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide of which only nine resulted in fatalities. When you consider how many millions of people work and play in the seas and oceans, such a small number of attacks hardly justifies the shark’s terrible reputation. The fact is, sharks rarely attack humans, and when they do, it is for reasons which seem incompatible with our general perception of these creatures as ferocious maneaters.
One reason sharks attack is territoriality. Sharks, like many other creatures, including us humans, are territorial, and we should be cautious when we swim, surf or dive in areas of the ocean where sharks are common. It is their element, not ours. Sharks are basically curious but usually avoid confrontation. However, there have been cases where a curious shark, exploring new things, has bumped into swimmers and surfers in the same way that a dog sniffs at strangers. In some instances sharks attack surfers and swimmers because they mistake them for their natural prey, seals and sea lions. From the shark’s viewpoint below the surface, a person on a surfboard looks very much like a seal. Likewise, a swimmer doing the crawl, with arms and legs moving, looks like a wounded seal or sea lion. Thus, sharks sometimes attack, kill, or wound humans, but normally the shark realises its error and lets the victim go after the first bite.
Another reason sharks attack is to defend their territory. Divers exploring old wrecks in shark-infested waters sometimes come within the shark’s reach, which the shark guards jealously. In such cases the shark usually gives a warning before attacking; it arches its back, points its fins down, and swims in a figure of eight. The shark is basically saying, “This is my space. Leave me alone!” Ignored warnings can be dangerous. However, in most documented cases, the shark has only nipped the diver, giving a small wound, rather than seriously injuring them.
Not all shark attacks fit the above patterns. In July 1916, a great white shark attacked four people along the New Jersey coast. The shark killed three, and the fourth person lost a leg. A few days after, on July 14th, fishermen caught a great white shark just four miles away from where the last attack took place, and in its stomach they found fifteen pounds of human flesh and bones, including the shin bone of a child. In this type of attack there are no typical victims.
Such cases are rare, but they are the ones that make front-page news and seem to confirm our worst nightmares about the shark. Fortunately, research and statistics about shark behaviour paint a very different picture and there is hope that this knowledge will help us overcome our irrational fears and learn to view this creature with the respect, and caution, it deserves.
The author argues that sharks have an undeserved reputation. Do you think other animals are similarly misunderstood? What do you think shapes our fears of certain creatures?
