Why Do We Fear Sharks?
By: Michelle Kennedy
When you hear the word “shark” what comes to mind? Does your brain fill in the word “attack?” Do you picture a ravenous beast terrorizing the beach? As the Discovery Channel concludes its most popular annual TV event, Shark Week, I felt it was important to look into why sharks have gained such notoriety throughout the years, and what we can do to ward off our fear.
Before we knew a lot about sharks, our ancestors feared them. Things that are unfamiliar to us seem scary and are viewed as a threat. The very instinct of fear was an adaptation as a means of protection and survival. Because many things were unknown to early humans, as a result, most animals, including sharks, were ultimately feared.
But humans are not born with all types of fear. Blake Chapman, a shark expert at the University of Queensland in Australia, explains that infants are not afraid of snakes or heights, but as they grow older, their brains become more receptive to stimuli that cause fear. Additionally, many fears are inherited through social situations. Oftentimes, one generation projects its fears onto the next, which indicates that human fears are deeply rooted and hard to change. Though we live in a completely different world than that of our ancestors, we are still afraid of many of the same things they were, including heights, the dark, and many animals.
Photo by Gerald Schömbs from Unsplash
Despite our fears being ingrained in human behavior, widespread panic surrounding sharks spiked in 1975 with the Hollywood release of the film Jaws. Portraying Great White Sharks as murderous killing machines, Jaws ignited a sense of terror in people that went far beyond the big screen.
Galeophobia, the fear of sharks, is much more common than the fear of cars or driving, despite there being six million more car accidents in America than shark attacks. A study published in 2015 found that 51% of Americans expressed being “absolutely terrified” of sharks and 38% of Americans said they are scared to swim in the ocean because of them, showing that fear is not necessarily based on risk. Author Elaina Zachos explains that a huge aspect of fear is the perception of control. When driving a car, you feel in control as you move the steering wheel and push the pedals. When swimming in the ocean, however, you have no control over the inhabitants or their behavior, therefore making the situation seem scarier.
Our fear of sharks, however, has proven to be more of a nightmare for the sharks than us. Because of the alarm surrounding sharks, many fishermen wanted to prove how brave they were by going out and catching one. Shark researcher George Burgess explains that “sponsored fishing tournaments began that initiated organized shark fishing for prizes.” Additionally, big time fishing companies continue to exploit sharks for their fins in order to make Shark Fin Soup, a popular delicacy. Although sharks killed five people in 2019, humans kill an estimated 30 to 70 million sharks every year. Slow growth and maturity coupled with reproducing only a few offspring in their lifetime led to shark populations drastically declining in the early 2000s compared to the previous decade.
Despite the fact that more than half of Americans feel terror surrounding sharks, sharks provide incredible benefits to us. Oceana scientists explain that sharks help keep marine populations in check which, in turn, benefit us. For example, when North Carolina experienced a loss of Great White sharks the ray population spiked. This resulted in the hungry rays eating all the baby scallops and forcing fisheries to close.
So how do we resist this fear? Zachos recommends educating yourself and gaining exposure to sharks through aquariums. Because humans are prone to fear things that are unknown, seeing these animals and reading about them can help reduce anxiety. Additionally, Zachos points out that early exposure is the key to reducing fear amongst children.
People taking pictures of a shark in an aquarium. Photo by Valdemaras D. from Pexels
The panic does not stop at sharks though. Unfortunately, a number of animals and insects that provide a benefit to humans are feared. According to Animal Planet, in addition to sharks, humans are often afraid of snakes and spiders, despite them also providing us with benefits like pest control and medicine. Similar to the anxiety surrounding sharks, fear is not always based on risk, but may have something to do with the morphology of an animal. Scientist Graham Davey concluded that the number of legs, speed, hair, body size, and previous reputation all contributed to whether an animal was classified as “scary” or not.
Today, we live in a world filled with more accessible knowledge than ever before. Although fear is a feeling that, for the most part, serves as a self-preservation strategy, humans are choosing to ignore the knowledge available to us because of a primal instinct to fear animals. Although sharks have gained an exorbitant amount of negative publicity from pop culture and the media, some good has emerged. In 2011, the Shark Conservation Act was signed into law protecting sharks in US waters from shark finning. Additionally, shark populations have rebounded in the last year. While many fret over the increasing, yet relatively miniscule, number of lives sharks are claiming, our very inadequate response is to kill tens of millions of them every year.