How to Avoid a Shark Attack

People always talk about how dangerous sharks are, but we should probably stop for a second and remember that there are some 350-440 sharks (depending how you count). All of them have teeth, but only a few are known to be aggressive towards, let alone be somewhat dangerous to, humans.

Why do sharks bite humans?

No, we’re not on the menu for sharks – generally. But just like we don’t normally eat cockroaches, we could if we wanted to. So, we’re going to pretend we’re a cockroach and make sure we’re doing what we can, not to get chomped. 

Put yourself into the brain of a shark quickly. You are now a shark. You have a different brain than a human, so (as far as we can tell), you’re probably roaming the ocean with a skill set that keeps you alive. You eat, you mate and you survive.

Each shark species has become really good at eating a particular prey item. They evolve to do that. That also means that almost no shark has ever had the ability to evolve a taste for humans – we just don’t go into the ocean enough. But, if we look like one of the prey the shark normally eats, there is a high chance we could get attacked. So, here is a short video about how to survive a shark attack:

Written by Rob Nelson

Rob is an ecologist from the University of Hawaii. He is the co-creator and director of Untamed Science. His goal is to create videos and content that are entertaining, accurate, and educational. When he's not making science content, he races whitewater kayaks and works on Stone Age Man.

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