Shark Bite, Not Shark Attack

September 17, 2009

Release from: Laura A. Sanchez
The Battalion (Texas)

The number of shark attacks has been steadily decreasing, but it comes as no surprise since these animals are not really predators of humans in the first place, said Andre Landry, professor of marine biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston.

"We can feel good that shark attacks are down, but the essential point is that the potential for shark attacks is so remotely small that this should not be a great fear or high concern whether we have high or low numbers in the data," he said.

Sharks do not have it in their nature to attack humans. It is a common misconception that the animals prey on humans for food, Landry said.

"Most of the interactions that take place have been mistaken identities or incidental contacts where the animal is thinking it's attacking prey that is anything but human or in conditions that really compromise the animal's ability to comprehend that it's a person and not a seal," Landry said.

Galveston is one of the shores where a shark attack has not been reported this year. The last reported attack was two years ago.

"Animals are just looking for food. Something like a little sparkle of jewelry attached to an ankle can confuse that. There was a girl here with silver toe nail polish and a silver anklet that was bitten by a shark. The attack was simply a shark exploring and thinking there was something shiny like scales of a fish, and instead it was the ankle of a girl," said Jaime Alvarado, assistant professor of marine biology at Texas A&M University at Galveston.

Experts say the probability of being bitten by a shark is low compared to how many hours people spend in the water.

"It's inconceivable that people think of this as a real threat. There are more fatalities with people walking across the street, DWI's, bee stings or peanut allergies. There's fear with this big animal, but that fear is not being demonstrated by in-water encounters, or attacks in any proportion whatsoever," Landry said.

The International Shark Attack File, ISAF, a record that compiles all shark attack reports throughout the U.S., keeps track of how many attacks are provoked and unprovoked. Four fatalities were reported from an unprovoked shark attack last year.

George Burgess, director of ISAF at the University of Florida, said only 59 unprovoked attacks occurred in 2008, compared with 71 in 2007.

The ISAF also reports there may be a number of reasons why there has been a recent decline in the number of shark attacks.

"Likely reasons include: less sharks in the water, less people in the water in traditional high shark-human contact areas or humans may be getting smarter reducing their interactions with sharks," Burgess said.

The different species of sharks also has to do with their behavior. Some are smaller and less dangerous, while some are more aggressive and territorial.

"You can visualize attacks as being the source of either: species that are actually being hunted, territorial behavior, animals getting confused in murky water or by reflections, or doing what any animal would do - defend itself when it's being cornered or attacked," Alvarado said.

The shark species is also declining because of overfishing and there are now fewer sharks in the water than there were 20 years ago, Alvarado said.

Shark attacks can be a result of the animal not being able to see clearly and define the difference between a human and its prey.

"Any time you walk into a coastal zone, you're likely going to have the availability of sharks. It just depends on the season and location, but use common sense. Swim during the day and not during the early morning, very late in the afternoon, or at night when the visual sense of the animal might be compromised by lack of light, thus increasing the potential for an accidental encounter," Landry said.