With the 30th anniversary of “Shark Week” kicking off Sunday, the resurging fear of sharks is prevalent but misguided.
“Well, ‘Jaws’ didn’t help,” said Lindsay French, Florida program manager for shark research. “I think anything that’s big and has big teeth and looks scary is intimidating. But there’s nothing to be scared about.”
French said being bitten by a shark is rare, with an average of about 80 shark bites worldwide every year.
There have been 54 shark bites reported in 2018 as of Tuesday, according to trackingsharks.com. Forty-one resulted in injury, and nine were considered provoked attacks.
Of all bites, six were reported in Florida, two on Saturday in Fernandina Beach.
Although the likelihood of getting bitten is low, there are ways to prevent bites and respond in the case of an attack.
“One thing that people need to understand is that sharks do not hunt people down,” director of the Florida program for shark research at UF Gavin Naylor said.
Naylor said there are three main precautions to help prevent attacks: do not swim at dusk or dawn, do not swim alone and do not wear jewelry. Florida Museum of Natural History’s website, floridamuseum.ufl.edu, has 11 additional tips.
Furthermore, Naylor said big splashing also draws sharks’ attention.
“They can detect blood from two, three miles away,” Naylor said. “But they can detect sound from much further away.”
If you are unfortunate enough to be bitten, putting up a fight is the best thing you can do, French said.
“Sharks are looking for an easy meal, so once they bite you and realize you’re not an easy meal, they’re going to back off,” French said. “So punch them in the nose, poke them in the eyes, put up a fight, do whatever you can.”
