You\u2019re more likely to die falling into a hole at the beach, in a riptide or in an alligator attack than from a shark bite, according to data from the Florida Museum of Natural History\u2019s International Shark Attack File. Last year, the museum recorded 47 unprovoked bites worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not these monster killers that just come flying in whenever there\u2019s bait,\u201d said Neil Hammerschlag, a shark researcher based in Nova Scotia, Canada, who charters cage-diving expeditions to bring tourists up close to blue, mako and great white sharks. \u201cThey\u2019re very cautious.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Hammerschlag, who\u2019s been studying sharks for 24 years, said some are more curious about the color of the boat or the sound of the engine than the 20 pounds of sushi-grade tuna he brings on each trip as bait.<\/p>\n
Chris Lowe, the director of the Shark Lab at California State University in Long Beach, said he has \u201chundreds, if not thousands of hours footage\u201d of sharks near the shore in California. And, most of the time, they\u2019re there to relax, he said.<\/p>\n
For three years, researchers in Lowe\u2019s lab surveyed 26 beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego with drones and saw sharks swim right under surfers without changing course.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like they are ignoring us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re just flotsam, not food or foe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Washington Post asked Hammerschlag and Lowe what they do and the advice they give beachgoers who want to avoid a shark encounter.<\/p>\n
Be aware of your surroundings<\/p>\n
Lowe said when he\u2019s out in the water he spends some time looking behind himself and others, \u201clike checking my mirrors when I\u2019m driving.\u201d Sharks are stealthy and try to approach other animals from behind.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t treat the ocean like Disneyland, Lowe said. You\u2019re in a wild place where you can\u2019t eliminate all risks. His advice: Be vigilant. It will reduce your likelihood of a shark swimming up too closely to investigate you. And, do your homework about the body of water you\u2019re swimming in.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you going to be sharing the ocean with? Is it sharks? Is it stingrays?\u201d Lowe said. \u201cWhen we go in the ocean, we are entering someone else\u2019s home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Avoid swimming at dawn, dusk and night<\/p>\n
Sharks may confuse a human foot for a fish, or a surfboard for a seal, when visibility is poor, such as in lowlight conditions.<\/p>\n
Sharks use their mouth and teeth to inspect what\u2019s in front of them like we use our hands, Hammerschlag said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost shark bites of people are not predatory,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen sharks have bitten people, it seems that they\u2019re investigatory or mistaken identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t wear reflective jewelry in the water<\/p>\n
The light glimmering off jewelry can look like a fish scale to a shark, Hammerschlag said.<\/p>\n
He adds reflective stickers to the cage he uses on diving expeditions to try to catch a shark\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t swim near someone who\u2019s fishing<\/p>\n
A fish caught on a line could get the attention of a shark. \u201cThose vibrations are like ringing the dinner bell for a shark,\u201d Hammerschlag said.<\/p>\n
However, it can help to swim near other people, Lowe said, since groups of people might be more intimidating than solo swimmers.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t swim where there\u2019s an \u2018unusual amount of fish activity\u2019<\/p>\n
If you see fish jumping out of water or birds diving for a meal, there could be a \u201cbait ball\u201d of fish nearby, and that\u2019s a feeding opportunity for sharks, Hammerschlag said.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a myth that a pod of dolphins can ward off sharks. But, he said, the opposite may be the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there\u2019s a big bait ball of fish that dolphins are feeding on, the sharks could be feeing on that, as well,\u201d Hammerschlag said.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t panic when you spot a shark<\/p>\n
If you see a shark in the water, don\u2019t panic and swim away, Hammerschlag said. If you do, the shark might see you as prey. And, \u201cyou\u2019re not going to outswim a shark,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Instead, orient your body so you\u2019re always facing the shark and maintain eye contact, Hammerschlag said. Sharks can\u2019t sneak up on you if there\u2019s no element of surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re showing the shark that you see it, and you\u2019re responding to it,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd that is not a situation that a hunting shark wants to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re scuba diving, you can also sit on the ocean floor; sharks tend to approach potential prey from below, Hammerschlag said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You\u2019re more likely to die falling into a hole at the beach, in a riptide or in an…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":79713,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[159,67,132,68,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-79712","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114889281320987012","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79712","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79712"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79712\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79712"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79712"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79712"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}