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Surfer Mick Fanning narrowly escaped a shark attack earlier this week. This event frightened many people. However, shark attacks are not as frequent as you may think – there are less than 100 shark attacks per year in the world, and only about 4.2 of these attacks are fatal. More people are killed by lightning strikes each year than by sharks. You are more likely to be bitten by another person than by a shark! But that does not stop people from being afraid of them. We tend to fear what we do not understand, so perhaps if you learn a little bit more about them, you will not be scared of them.
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1. There Are Many Different Types
There are over 500 kinds of sharks. Of these, only four are considered dangerous to humans: oceanic whitetips, bulls, tigers, and great whites sharks.
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2. They Do Not Typically Hunt Humans
Sharks do not seem to like the taste of humans. Most shark attacks are unprovoked hit and runs – they take a bite, release, and then leave. This suggests that they thought the human was something else that they usually hunt; the shape of a surfer from underneath confuses them greatly. Or they may have been curious. Sharks like to test things with their mouths if they have never seen it before. Once they realize it is not what they want, they move on.
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3. They Can Live a Very Long Time
Scientists have discovered that the Great White Shark and Spiny Dogfish can live over 100 years.
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4. They Have Been Around Much Longer Than Us
Sharks have been around for more than 300 million years. So not only have they been around longer than humans, they have been around since before the dinosaurs. They looked a lot different back then.
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5. They Can Be Trained
In a Chicago aquarium, some sharks have been trained to recognize sounds and respond to human touch.
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6. They Are Really Fast
The Shortfin Mako Shark is the fastest species of shark to date and can swim up to 65mph, or 100kph.
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7. One of Them Walks
A new species called the bamboo shark was discovered in 2013. This unique shark prefers walking on the ocean floor using its fins instead of swimming.
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8. We Are The Biggest Danger to Them
Even though sharks live in the ocean and we live on land, humans somehow are the #1 predator of sharks. Their other predators are killer whales and crocodiles.
SEE ALSO: Surfer Mick Fanning Escapes A Shark Attack In the Middle Of A Competition In South Africa.
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