Giving sharks a rebrand - 29th March 2024

Sharks largely owe their fearful reputation to Spielberg's 1970s film Jaws, something that's been hard to shake ever since. Nowhere feels its influence more acutely than Florida, dubbed the shark bite capital of the world.

The US state experiences a quarter of all global shark bites - a seemingly alarming statistic. And yet, the actual figure paints a more reassuring picture, equating to 16 of a global total of 69 unprovoked attacks. Putting this further into perspective, millions of sun seekers invade Florida's beaches annually, with roughly 135 million such visitors diving straight into the warm waters last year.

Shifting perceptions that a shark's sole purpose is to take a chunk out of human beings is central to outreach by the Florida Program for Shark Research, whose scientists are committed to creating a better informed public view.

Gavin Naylor's the programme's director.

Gavin Naylor: "So, the sharks are trying to avoid people. We know that they must be doing because there are so many of them and so many people. And people are very easy to, to target. They are a little bit like floating sausages if you're a shark."

Naylor's an advocate for the creatures, believing wounds inflicted to be unintentional.

Gavin Naylor: "So there are a lot of people in the water and a lot of sharks in the water. The sharks are targeting the fishes that they normally feed on. But once in a while, people get in the way, and the sharks make a mistake, and they bite the people."

A 2021 study evidenced how severely the shark population had dwindled, and revealed a fall in the order of 70 percent since 1970 largely through overfishing.

Their reputation being as it is, campaigns for these animals take second place to those to safeguard dolphins and whales. Keen to shake up the status quo, shark diving guide Jonathan Campbell recommends literally taking the plunge to discover how truly amiable sharks can be.

Jonathan Campbell: "When they come up after that first dive, uh, they're excited. And you can see that they're in shock. They're changed by what they saw because they see sharks on TV, they see sharks on movies, and they're these scary monsters. And in the water, they are actually shy puppy dogs."