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NEWS > SCIENCE > SHARKS NOW PLACE BLAME FOR ATTACKS ON HUMAN BEINGS
SHARKS NOW PLACE BLAME FOR ATTACKS ON HUMAN BEINGS
August 28 2011
Gainesville, FL – Shark attacks are perhaps the most frightening of animal interactions. Sharks are seen, quite correctly, as the perfect predator, an animal whose only reason for existence is causing death. Add to that the sleek, almost alien look that sharks possess and you have a thing of nightmares. After all, lions and tigers may be just a dangerous but they are furry and cute, sharks are not.
Sharks, though, don’t cause nearly the amount of death that people would like to believe they do. In fact, sharks are possibly the least deadly of all apex predators in the world. Look at any stats in respect to animal related deaths and sharks will be near the bottom. Shark attacks are actually incredibly rare despite their reputation.
Occasionally though, attacks do happen in clusters and this year that seems to have been happening. Around the world six deaths and seven injuries have been attributed to shark attacks, the highest number in a decade. In total, there have been 79 incidents with sharks around the globe, a marked increase from the last few years. However, despite reactionary opinions, it appears that is actually human beings who are most responsible for most of those incidents and many sharks are just innocent victims with giant mouths and razor-sharp teeth.
“The growth in shark attack numbers does not necessarily mean that there is an increase in the rate of shark attacks. Rather it most likely is reflective of the ever- 
increasing amount of time spent in the sea by humans, which increases the odds of interaction between the two affected parties,” said Agathe Lefranc of Association for the Study and Conservation of Salachians. “The attention from shark attacks is completely overblown.”
In a recent incident, a shark mauled a British man on his honeymoon in front of his new wife in the Seychelles, an incident that brought the shark back into focus for many people.
“Sharks are predators and they will eat just about anything in the water. Generally, they stay away from humans. They prefer seafood most of the time, but if they are hungry enough they will eat just about anything. They are kind of like dogs that way, though much bigger and much less cuddly,” said Scrape TV Zoology analyst Cambridge Walker. “In many ways it is remarkable that there aren’t more incidents with humans. There are a lot of humans swimming everyday and sharks are usually hungry. The fact that they don’t attack more is a tribute to them and their restraint.”
Yearly deaths from falling coconuts are nearly five times that of sharks, but there has been little uproar over such incidents.
“We are in their territory after all and it’s not like they are all that intelligent or 
sophisticated. They are just animals and they really don’t know much better. They just open their mouths and things fall in, and if that happens to be a human leg or arm, well that’s what it happens to be. It’s really tough to blame a fish,” continued Walker. “However they aren’t totally blameless. After all, we don’t go into our neighbour’s house and start eating out of their aquarium. Sharks just need to learn how to share a little better and if they can do that we can all get along a lot better. If not, they are going to be considered the villain in all this and that really isn’t fair.”
Most shark experts we contacted for this story were busy eating.
Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent
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