Do you know why sharks attack on humans? [By Myers, Jackson & Tiberio]

The following text has been found in  "What's up?" by Cathy Myers, Sarah Jackson & Silvia Carolina Tiberio, Ed. Pearson Education. Tell us about your point of view. Are you afraid of sharks? Have you seen one? What do you think about?

Do you know why sharks attack on humans?

There are about 450 species of sharks of different sizes. Some sharks are about 20cm long; others can reach 12m. Three species -the tiger shark, the white shark and the bull shark- are responsible for a lot of attacks on humans.

White Shark stalking

Sharks live in deep ocean waters but sometimes come to shallow waters to hunt. They eat fish, dolphins, sea turtles and seals. They are aggresive predators, but they are not man-eaters. So, why do they attack humans?

Experts think that when visibility is poor, sharks mistake people for prey. This can happen when the water is not clear: for example, when there is a lot of splashing. They also explain that the number of people in the sea is going up. "When there are more people, there are more attacks," explains George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack Files of the University of Florida in the United States.

According to the International Shark Attack Files, there are 70 - 100 shark attacks on humans per year but only 5 - 15 of those people die. Bees, wasps and snakes kill many more people per year. So, why are people so afraid of sharks? A possible explanation is that we can control animals on land. In the sea, sharks are not easy to control. Another reason is that when there is shark attack, television and newspapers say a lot about it.

George Burgess thinks that sharks are not villains. They simply get bad press.

George Burgess