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Due to hollywood movies about sharks many people think of them as predatory creatures that will hunt down humans due to be blood thirsty. On the contrary sharks, don't even like eating humans. The blood of humans doesn't taste the same as the food they actually eat which is why when a person is attacked it usually just one bite. Fish and seals and other various sea creatures make up that fearsome hunter's diet. And they've evolved wonderfully to suit their trade; strong, fast, nimble, and lots and lots of teeth, which is a big part of why we find them so scary. Sharks will mistake people more often as prey, when they are mimicking the prey's behavior. When people are swimming far away from the shore, splashing around while on their surfboard waiting to catch that next big wave to ride, they are in the position to be mistaken for a seal who has been hurt. Even though the people may not have known it, it is no different that someone who decided to go for a swim and was dragged out to sea by the tide. It is just a matter of wrong time, wrong place, and doing the wrong thing. Even so, only a dozen or so people, out of the millions that go to beaches every year, get killed by sharks. Additionally, there are only around 90 or so shark attacks each year and many of those are nudges or bumps that leave nothing more than bruises. Each is certainly a tragedy but looking at it in context, the events are accidental rather than malicious. It is interesting that falling coconuts are more of a danger to people than sharks are. It is a rare event when even the aggressive sharks such as the great white shark or the tiger shark attack a human. Driving your car is vastly more dangerous as in the USA more than 40,000 people die from vehicle accidents each year. When a person is bitten by a shark, of course the victim deserves sympathy. But so the hundreds of sharks that will be hunted and killed in revenge. The sharks have no idea what they have done or why we are trying to kill them; unlike humans, they can't be told why they are being subjected to a punishment. We have only two choices: to kill sharks, or to live with them peacefully. Killing them hasn't made us safer, so perhaps we should try the second option.
Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/
Although the Hollywood image of sharks has left people afraid of the water, it's important to be aware that they are not seeking out humans as prey. However, they sometimes mistake people as prey, when the people mimic the prey's behavior. Even so, only a dozen or so people out of the millions that swim in the oceans each year, get killed by a shark attack.
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