Have you ever searched up the word “shark?” If you haven’t, here’s a spoiler alert: one scroll past Shark appliances gets you to the “Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary,” and right after, top stories about the most recent encounter gone wrong.
It’s crazy how influential the statistics we see in our day-to-day lives are to our perception of just about anything. While data can educate us on our surrounding world, it can also enforce prejudice when people focus on only one side of the facts.
Learning about the behaviors of sharks can improve anyone’s chances if ever faced with an dangerous encounter. But, before that (hopefully never) happens, how about I help you understand the very basics of why attacks happen in the first place — and in turn, why sharks don’t actually mean harm?
Spread out.
There are generally 50–70 reported shark attacks each year — around 10–20 of those being provoked, which will thus not be counted for purposes of this article.
In 2024, there were 47 unprovoked shark bites worldwide. While this spanned 12 regions, it was only two countries that had more than one attack each. Australia had 9 negative encounters, while the USA had 28. Yes, more than half of the year’s total. Let’s delve into that.
While I’d love to make the joke that Florida is the biggest shark attack hotspot in the world simply because it’s Florida, there is sadly an actual good reason.
Sharks love densely populated beaches. And, no, it’s not because it’s easier for them to find humans to chomp on there. Probably.
Researchers at the University of Miami found that sharks show behavioral traits of “urban adapters,” or animals that have learned what they can gain from the presence of humans. In this case, it’s very likely that the discarding of fish carcasses near the shore has interested sharks as a quick and easy way to grab a meal.
Each state with shark attacks this past year has lively beach life. Too many people in the water plus a high number of sharks searching where they know there is food to be found… yeah, it’s not hard to understand that sometimes a shark may get confused on what the food is.
Curiosity killed the human …
The Monterey Bay Aquarium reports that there are over 500 species of sharks in our oceans. Many species are known to be incredibly peaceful and even friendly with humans — such as whale, lemon, nurse, hammerhead, and more sharks.
Most unprovoked attacks are done by the “Big Three” — great whites, tigers, and bull sharks — so we’ll focus on those for a bit.
Let’s make one thing clear: sharks don’t like how humans taste. We came into existence way after sharks evolved into what they are now, so we were never even a taste their buds could develop an itch for.
Shark attacks happen because sharks are incredibly curious creatures while also incredibly anxious, and maybe a little dumb. The bigger and more powerful the shark, the more curious they’re allowed to be since they can fend off the most danger, hence why our “Big Three” are common culprits.
Thinking they can win against whatever they come across, these sharks inch toward that weird neon floatie that looks like nothing they’ve ever seen before. Suddenly, the person on that float freaks out because, well, shark. They flail, causing strong splashes with every kick in an attempt to escape, and that panic reaches the shark too because, upon further consideration, maybe starting a fight with something you don’t know isn’t smart. They bite as a last-ditch effort to scare away the possible danger, and uh-oh, new news story.
Are you next?
Dear God, no. Did you read “47 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide in 2024” earlier and think that was a high number? There are 8 billion people on this Earth!
As I was saying, sharks don’t want to attack humans, but if they get too confused or panicked, that can jump ahead of their curiosity and make them act to defend themselves.
“It’s never quite a shark’s objective to injure humans,” shark conservation advocate, Elizabeth Fernandez Gomez, states. “Sharks tend to be quite docile creatures when it comes to meeting people. When they do attack, the reason tends to be that they either confused a human or its surroundings with food, or as an act of self-defense, striking first so the frantic person before them doesn’t get the chance to show their strength — or lack thereof, in comparison.”
You’ve heard all of those crazy comparisons like how a lightning strike is far more likely to kill you than a shark attack, right? Because they’re most definitely not crazy. Even in the water, one’s biggest concern shouldn’t be sharks. According to the Stanford Report, “Oceangoers are 1,817 times more likely to drown than die from a shark attack.”
If you happen to encounter a shark, the most important thing is to stay calm … and maybe do the more athletic ocean activities on less crowded beaches! At the end of the day, sharks aren’t out for your blood, they just think you’re cool! Just don’t make them think you’re scary and they won’t prove they can beat you in a fight.
