Shark Week: Top 10 Reasons Not To Be Afraid Of Mighty Predators

LONG ISLAND, NY – With Shark Week, an annual tradition on the Discovery Channel, running through Sunday, one organization is reaching out to reassure people that it is safe to go into the water. OCEARCH, a non-profit organization dedicated to shark research, has published the "Top 10 Reasons Not to Fear Sharks."

Here, according to OCEARCH, are the Top 10 reasons, from last to first, not to fear sharks:

10) The inaccurate portrayal of sharks

"Despite the box office success, the movie Jaws is not an accurate representation of a white
shark. In fact, Peter Benchley, the author of Jaws, regretted the inaccurate representation of
sharks, and became an active shark conservation advocate," OCEARCH said. "Throughout our studies, we have encountered hundreds of white sharks and they are calm, smart, and inquisitive animals. They do not stalk humans as prey; they are simply fish trying to survive and be successful in their ocean home."

It's important to prioritize facts over fear, OCEARCH said.

9) Minimize your risk

There are ways to make swimming in the ocean safer, OCEARCH said. "Avoid swimming in areas with a lot of activity such as birds diving, fish jumping, or seals swimming. You don’t want to swim out in the middle of the food chain and be mistaken for a seal
or other prey. Instead, move to a quieter section of the ocean. Remember to use common sense when stepping into the home of wild animals. Sharks do not hunt for humans. We encounter them due to mistaken identity or simply getting in their way."

8) Sharks are not the #1 predators, humans are

"Sharks have a lot more to fear from us than we do of them. From finning practices, fishing bycatch, and the inappropriate disposal of plastics and other pollutants, many species of sharks are becoming endangered entirely because of us. It has been estimated that humans kill on average about 100 million sharks around the world each year, while an average of less than 10 humans are killed by sharks. Sharks have a bad reputation that has led many humans to fear them, but in reality, the tables are turned," OCEARCH said.

7) Gentle ocean giants

Sharks have been on the planet for over 400 million years and today comprise approximately
500 different species; of those 500 species, half are less than 3-feet long, OCEARCH said. "In reality, only a handful of sharks present any real threat to humans," OCEARCH said.

6) Ecotourism

Shark ecotourism can prove a boon to the local economy, OCEARCH said — another reason they should be celebrated, not feared.

5) Beach risks

According to OCEARCH, a trip to the beach is 132 times more likely to end in drowning than it is with a shark bite. The biggest risks while at the beach are undertows, rip currents, and lightning strikes, OCEARCH said. "The power of our oceans is something to respect, and far outweighs any fear for the sharks that swim in it," OCEARCH said.

4) Greater risks

"Did you know you are 30 times more likely to die from a coconut falling from a tree onto your
head than from being bitten by a shark?" OCEARCH asked. "You are also 10 times more likely to get bitten on a subway in New York City by another human than you are from a shark in the ocean. Shark bites on people are extremely rare. The next time you step in the ocean, remember
you’re more at risk of dying from sun exposure or a mosquito bite than you are from a shark."

3) Human health

OCEARCH's team said they are working to help in the fight against the human bacterial resistance to antibiotics, by studying the bacterial communities of white sharks to see if they produce natural antibiotics due to their ability to heal fast after being wounded. The team uses safe techniques to collect bacteria samples from the sharks they sample and tag, and then screen those novel bacterial colonies for antibiotic production, OCEARCH said.

"If these sharks are producing antibiotics there could be potential for human medical benefits," OCEARCH said. "Sharks may potentially provide health benefits for humans and therefore should continue to be studied, not feared or exterminated."

2) Balance keepers

Sharks play a crucial role in balancing the oceans’ ecosystems; sharks are at
the top of the food chain, helping regulate the populations of animals below them such as seals,
rays, and larger predatory fish and consuming the weak, sick, and dying, OCEARCH said. "This makes sure the populations of fish lower on the food chain are not depleted, and remain healthy. . .If our sharks thrive, the entire system thrives," OCEARCH said.

1) Signs of abundance

"When sharks are present in an ecosystem it is a positive sign of ocean health and abundance. . .
From regulating Earth’s temperatures to providing at least half of our oxygen, the health of our
oceans affects us all. This is why the presence of sharks in an area should not be feared, it
should be celebrated," OCEARCH said.

In other shark news, a massive white shark named Freya passed by Montauk in June as she headed north.

According to Chris Fischer, founder of the not-for-profit OCEARCH, Freya is 11.26 feet long and weighs 883 lbs.

Freya's quest, Fischer said, was fueled by her search for food. "She's all over that bunker, the menhaden," he said.

"We met Freya off of North Carolina in March. It will be exciting to see if she will spend her summer and fall in the New England area or more north in Nova Scotia," OCEARCH said on social media.

A Montauk shark "nursery" discovered in 2016 has seen a steady increase in its population of white sharks, Fischer said. Female sharks tend to head to Montauk in the late spring and early summer to drop off their pups and then depart; right now, there are a "bunch of baby shark pups" on the South Shore that are "under the menhaden, chasing squid and mackerel around," he said.

"They live off them all summer, getting stronger to go south," he told Patch.

Two other sharks, Monomoy and Martha, were also spotted recently just south of the East End area, Fischer said.

Fischer has said that the growth in the white shark population is important for commercial and recreational fisheries and "so our grandchildren can eat fresh fish in the future. All those baby white sharks are our future balance keepers," he said."

According to OCEARCH, which has led expeditions off Montauk to tag sharks found in a nursery in the Atlantic Ocean in recent years, in 2016 great white shark researchers discovered the first North Atlantic nursery for the fearsome predator in the waters off Montauk — explaining the recent surge in great white sharks around nearby Cape Cod.

In 2016, the leading shark research team said it suspected Long Island might be a breeding ground for great whites and launched a tagging expedition to be able to determine potential birthing sites. The OCEARCH team said it tracked nine infant great whites to the nursery, located a few miles off Montauk.

There has been a surge of great white sightings off Cape Cod in recent years — researchers say adults feed on seals around the Cape and return to Montauk, where adolescents stay until they reach adulthood at the age of 20. Great whites can live up to 70 years old; they can grow up to 25 feet long and weigh 5,000 pounds.

"This is a historical moment and the first step in revealing the great white shark pupping ground," Fischer said in a statement at the time the nursery was discovered. "It's this kind of scientific data that will help us collectively make more-informed decisions about how to protect this incredible species."

But the news isn't reason to panic: Shark attacks on humans are extremely rare — the odds are about 1 in 12 million. Most shark attack victims survive; bites on humans by sharks are normally exploratory. Worldwide, 200,000 sharks are killed per day; in contrast, about 10 to 12 human lives are lost yearly as a result of shark attacks, researchers told Patch.

Sharks, experts agree, are far less of a danger to people than mankind is to sharks.

Mary Lee, the famous 16-foot, 3,400-pound great white shark, made headlines when she was found to be lurking off the Long Island coast, headed toward Fire Island, and then East Hampton.

Sadly, Mary Lee has not been seen since 2017, when she last pinged off the Jersey Shore coast.
OCEARCH, like other not-for-profits, was dealt a heavy blow due to the coronavirus. Despite the challenges, teams will continue their research.

"This work is so important to the public and to the future balance of the ocean," Fischer said.

To donate to OCEARCH, click here.