I understand they are out there, I understand there is an ecosystem and they are important to that ecosystem... all that goes out the window when you see a great white cruising through the water. We're cool as long as they are out at sea and not where I'm at.
I suspect there are also just a lot more interactions between humans and cows each year. Then again, we're responsible for a lot more cow fatalities as well, so if anything those cows are just fighting back.
Yeah, when you think about how many people are in the water they are incredibly rare. I grew up surfing and never thought much about sharks. I knew they were out there, but the drive to the beach was much more dangerous.
Any average would seem regular. One chomping at a given interval.
But we don't know from the average anything about regularity. Maybe all 47 chomps were in the last few weeks, maybe not. One is regular the other is irregular.
Agree. Though I read that shark attacks are increasing. Possibly due to changing water temperatures, or humans over-fishing their natural prey, leading them to look elsewhere.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File (ISAF), there were just 47 unprovoked attacks last year (worldwide, 2024), 22 fewer compared to 2023 and below the 10-year annual average of 70.
Jaws is the only movie (within reason I guess) that I don't let my 13 year old watch.
We live by the sea with one of the world's best marine reserves right off shore. There are plenty of fish including sharks living right off the beach and you need nothing more than a mask and snorkel to get right in amongst them.
When I watched Jaws as a kid when it first came out, it scared me shitless and I still carry some of that trauma whenever I am snorkeling over a deep canyon where the blue just goes on forever and you can't see the bottom.
I just don't want my child to miss out on that because of the ability of Hollywood to scare us.
But yeah. I had the fortune to see Jaws on a bus in highland Bolivia (talk about a weird choice for forced onboard entertainment!), and it was more annoying than it was scary.
Anecdotally, people's fear of sharks still feels very overblown. I've gone surfing in SoCal a couple times a month for the last 5 years or so, I've never known anyone that's had a shark attack, and have only been told "there's a shark nearby" once. On the other hand, many friends have hit rocks, got caught in rip currents, and or had stingray stings. Even though the severity of these things is less than a shark attack, their prevalence means that there are many more deaths every year due to these relatively mundane things. But when I offer to teach somebody to surf, sharks are still one of the most common objections (it's probably second to "I can't swim").
None of this contradicts what the study is saying -- it's totally possible that the overall fear is decreasing. It's just _still irrationally high_, imo.
A woman got bitten by a shark pretty bad down the street from me about a mile away when I lived there: https://abc7.com/post/newport-beach-shark-bite-victim-recove...
I understand they are out there, I understand there is an ecosystem and they are important to that ecosystem... all that goes out the window when you see a great white cruising through the water. We're cool as long as they are out at sea and not where I'm at.
What was the shark doing in the street?!
It was one of these guys:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_Sharks
> In an online survey of 371 people, mostly from Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom
I'm pretty sure that's not a significant enough sample size to matter.
My friend David was attacked by a shark and lost his leg, the story is quite incredible: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/13-david-byrd-was-brut...
People get killed by sharks in Australia regularly (two last week I think).
But I don’t think the public sees sharks as monsters to be destroyed.
Sharks are wild animals and we are in their habitat.
Sharks deserve protection even if they eat people.
People don't get killed regularly
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-world...
There are 4 confirmed fatalities in 2024 and 47 unprovoked bites.
> There are 4 confirmed fatalities in 2024 and 47 unprovoked bites.
To put that into perspective - there's about 4-5 fatal cow attacks in the UK alone a year.
https://cattlesafety.co.uk/facts-stats/when-cows-attack
I suspect there are also just a lot more interactions between humans and cows each year. Then again, we're responsible for a lot more cow fatalities as well, so if anything those cows are just fighting back.
Yeah, when you think about how many people are in the water they are incredibly rare. I grew up surfing and never thought much about sharks. I knew they were out there, but the drive to the beach was much more dangerous.
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So, one chomping a week.
Pretty regular.
Any average would seem regular. One chomping at a given interval.
But we don't know from the average anything about regularity. Maybe all 47 chomps were in the last few weeks, maybe not. One is regular the other is irregular.
/stupid nitpick
Agree. Though I read that shark attacks are increasing. Possibly due to changing water temperatures, or humans over-fishing their natural prey, leading them to look elsewhere.
I've read that they are down:
~ https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-12/shark-attack-bite-rep...Also, Great Whites were protected some time ago in Australia, 1996 if I recall correctly.
Fair chance there are more of them.
Jaws is the only movie (within reason I guess) that I don't let my 13 year old watch.
We live by the sea with one of the world's best marine reserves right off shore. There are plenty of fish including sharks living right off the beach and you need nothing more than a mask and snorkel to get right in amongst them.
When I watched Jaws as a kid when it first came out, it scared me shitless and I still carry some of that trauma whenever I am snorkeling over a deep canyon where the blue just goes on forever and you can't see the bottom.
I just don't want my child to miss out on that because of the ability of Hollywood to scare us.
I'd recommend you watch Jaws again, or at least some clips of it, just to see how cheesy it feels now. It's lost its teeth imo
"Jaws lost its teeth"? I see what you did there.
But yeah. I had the fortune to see Jaws on a bus in highland Bolivia (talk about a weird choice for forced onboard entertainment!), and it was more annoying than it was scary.
> Jaws is the only movie (within reason I guess) that I don't let my 13 year old watch.
On the other hand, I totally forgot about Sharknado until just now; that's my next movie night pick and my kid's gonna love it.
Diver and conservationist Cristina Zenato showed another side to sharks: they come to her to have hooks removed from their mouths...
https://youtu.be/G8LmxwOgBhA
If that's real, and not anthropomorphized, it shows that sharks are complex creatures, not mindless predators.
And it also tragically shows how much damage we humans do to the natural world. Sport fishing? Not so much for the fish...
That video speaks to shark behavior, but equally as much to Zebato's risk tolerance.
She seems a little too close for comfort to Timothy Treadwell https://youtu.be/watch?v=uWA7GtDmNFU
Hm, I don't get those vibes at all.
She's wearing chain mail, so I believe she respects the environment she puts herself into...
Even if you don't anthropomorphize (if that's possible) - shark actual behaviour is miles apart from the stereotypes.
Imagine if shark outer appearance were more mammal-cute, but they'd kept their behaviour - they'd be cuddly super stars with a stellar reputation!
Anecdotally, people's fear of sharks still feels very overblown. I've gone surfing in SoCal a couple times a month for the last 5 years or so, I've never known anyone that's had a shark attack, and have only been told "there's a shark nearby" once. On the other hand, many friends have hit rocks, got caught in rip currents, and or had stingray stings. Even though the severity of these things is less than a shark attack, their prevalence means that there are many more deaths every year due to these relatively mundane things. But when I offer to teach somebody to surf, sharks are still one of the most common objections (it's probably second to "I can't swim").
None of this contradicts what the study is saying -- it's totally possible that the overall fear is decreasing. It's just _still irrationally high_, imo.
There are way ore things to worry about than sharks, placement, wave mass, reef suck, if you go down will you come up again, etc.
The Right, going well: https://youtu.be/cYb9HOuhBrc?t=299
The Right, a bit wrong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjHaFOGBPzk
More on that location: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X03-6lTxFTg
> But when I offer to teach somebody to surf, sharks are still one of the most common objections (it's probably second to "I can't swim").
It could also be just a good common excuse (and also a cover for the sometimes embarrassing "can't swim")
Huh, that’s a really good point. I wonder if that is what’s happening, will have to pay more attention next time. Thanks for suggesting it!