Sharks: puppy dogs of the sea?

The release of Spielberg's film Jaws in the 1970s gave sharks the scary reputation that's haunted them until the present day. This is particularly the case in the US state of Florida, record holder as the shark bite capital of the world.

With a quarter of all shark bites occurring along Florida's golden shores, this statistic looks to be a worrying one. Despite this, it still only amounts to 16 out of 69 intentional attacks by sharks globally. Additionally, the fact that millions of swimmers head for Florida's beaches every year, in the region of 135 million last year alone, should be taken into consideration.

The Florida Program for Shark Research, whose scientists are keen to stress that sharks really aren't chasing after humans, is shifting public perceptions. Programme director Gavin Naylor's leading these efforts.

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."

And Naylor regards shark bites to be accidental rather than deliberate.

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."

Evidence that worldwide shark populations have decreased dramatically came in a 2021 study which charted a 70 percent decline since 1970, with overfishing largely responsible.

Due to their scary image, relatively few people are willing to fight for sharks' protection, compared to dolphins or whales. However, getting up close and personal with the big fish is something which shark diving guide, Jonathan Campbell, advises. It helps open people's minds to the friendly side of their nature.

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."

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