What's all the fuss about sharks

Surfs up!

You paddle out for that next great wave, shadowed by four of your buddies. You are all laughing and jovial, and the surf is great today.

Suddenly, a chill runs down your spine. “Shark! Shark!”

You turn your head just in time to see a great white closing in fast behind you. A 1,000 kg shark of pure muscle, razor-sharp teeth, and black eyes, that give you a death stare like you have never seen before.

You lock eyes and prepare for the worst. The sheer size of this beast masks the penetration of its teeth as they cut through your board and your flesh. You feel no pain, but realize all is not well, as the blue water turns to crimson.

Your next blurry thought is that your friends and frantic swimmers rush to help you on the shore. The wail of an ambulance shatters the silence.

The shark?

He is long gone. Dissatisfied with the taste, probably due to the styrene foam in your board, he has taken off.

*******

The Facts

Great whites swim thousands of kilometers along Australia’s coast each year. On the back of the most recent fatal shark attack in Sydney, Australia, earlier this month. The arguments around shark culling and the use of shark nets have been raised again.

This was the fourth fatal shark attack in Australia in 2025 and the first in the Sydney area since 2022. We have been brainwashed into thinking that shark attacks are common. Young children are taught to fear sharks even before they have ever seen the ocean.

The chance of being attacked by a shark is extremely low. Globally, the odds of an unprovoked bite are estimated at 1 in 3.7 million: 70-80 unprovoked attacks each year. The likelihood of a fatal attack is even lower. In Australia, it is 1 in 8 million: 20 incidents every year. Drowning and road fatalities pose a much greater risk, but we don’t tell people not to swim or not to drive.

You are statistically far more likely to be killed by lightning, a car accident, or even a train crash. Hippos kill 2,900 people every year. Horses kill 20 people, cows kill 22, ants kill 20, and mosquitoes a staggering 7254,000. Sharks - 5 people a year on average.

The lifetime risk of death from a shark attack has been calculated at around 1 in 4.3 million.

Consider the shocking number of 73 to 120 million sharks killed each year. Most are hunted for their fins, meat, oil, and cartilage. Many others die accidentally in fishing nets. A third of all shark species are gradually being pushed to extinction. Even the mighty great white is now endangered.

No wonder the sharks are pissed off!

Humans vs. Sharks

Shark numbers are actually declining, so why are the attacks going up?

Shark bites have increased around the world, including Australia, in the last twenty years. This is influenced by factors like population growth, climate change, and increased water activity. More people are going into the oceans—millions each year.

More are moving to coastal areas as our population grows. Water sports are becoming increasingly popular.

The end result is that more people are entering the shark’s territory.

There is also a perfect storm brewing. Changes in water temperature and lower water quality affect where sharks find food and how much is available.

In Australia, studies have shown that bull sharks are coming closer to shore as they follow the food. More people in the water and sharks coming in closer to shore is not a good combination.

Sharks have been swimming in oceans for the past 450 million years. Their ancestors fought the dinosaurs. Finely evolved to hunt at the top of the food chain, they are the wolves of the sea. They control any one species from getting out of hand and throwing off the ecosystem below.

Great white sharks or other dangerous species, such as bull sharks or tiger sharks, are not out to get people. They have better things to do. I have witnessed this firsthand in a story I wrote earlier based on a shark dive in Fiji (Shark Dive at Beqa Lagoon).

Sharks are notoriously curious. Investigation or taste-testing is considered a likely motivation behind many attacks. Just like your dog, they don't have hands, so they investigate something by biting it.

During my diving days, we took an empty plastic water bottle on shark dives. We didn’t use it for water; it served as a “shark rattle.” Squeezing the bottle quickly made it crackle. This caused vibrations in the water. The nearby sharks became curious and swam closer.

Research shows that in most cases of shark attacks, it is younger animals that are attacking. They may not know that humans in wetsuits or fit bodies taste different from fatty seals or penguins.

We don’t fully understand why unprovoked shark attacks occur. Surfers in black wetsuits would appear like a juicy seal from below the water. Wetsuits that have bright or flashing stripes on the sides are less attractive to sharks.

Never turn your back on a shark.

If a shark thinks it can sneak up on you, you're more appealing than someone alert and ready to fight. Sharks attack their prey from underneath and from behind. The element of surprise is an evolutionary skill they have perfected.

Abalone divers I spoke with as a teenager often said, “Never turn your back on a shark. If one gets too close, hit it on the tip of the nose, where its sensors are, or aim for its eyes or gills.” (Sage advice if you are about to be eaten!).

Shark attacks are tragic. But when we look closely, they are skilled hunters and very curious. Humans are invading their territory in increasing numbers. Their food supplies are diminishing, so the odds of attacks are going to increase. They are still far less than in other situations that we take for granted.

Till next time,

Calvin