Shark attacks are a very rare thing, but that doesn’t stop people from being deathly afraid of the sea creature and the ocean. It doesn’t help that we have so many movies about deadly shark attacks such as Steven Spielberg’s Jaws. But the reality is on average there are only 6 fatal shark attacks worldwide each year.
In the U.S., there is only ~1 deadly shark attack per year, on average with a total U.S. population of 326 million. And while this number is blurred because not every American goes swimming or even lives near a beach, the fact remains that shark attacks are exceedingly rare, and nothing that should ever prohibit you from taking a swim.
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Even with these numbers, it still doesn’t mean people will go out and swim in the middle of a black tip reef shark feeding frenzy. There are a lot of instances where people would not want to face a shark and who could blame them.
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Just because shark attacks are a rarity that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least be smart when swimming.
The times of highest shark activity near the surf are dusk and dawn, so that’s when you should be most watchful. If you see fish in the area jumping out of the water and appear as if a larger predator is chasing after them you might want to head to the beach.
Though your chances of getting attacked by a shark are only one in 11.5 million, there are hundreds of stories by people who have been face-to-face with the marine predator that will make you think twice.
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These stories in the video below are some of the most terrifying:
[H/T BroBible]
