Are You Scared of Sharks? Or Are They Scared of You?

Story by Kayla Adames, Paris Dozier, and Marcellus-Peters Jackson. Photo courtesy of todayifoundout.com

DEC. 14, 2020: Did you know that sharks can be afraid of you? That may seem untrue, but to your disbelief, sharks do not hurt people for the fun of it. Sharks do it because humans can look like food to them, or they are just curious about what is in their territory.  Sometimes the shark's curiosity can lead to a deadly fate for some unfortunate people. Nevertheless, in reality, we kill sharks more than they kill/hurt humans. We use sharks for things like shark fin soup and souvenirs to hang up on a wall. As a result, we kill 100 million sharks a year for our pleasure. Although they might look dangerous, they suffer from a loss of population from....well, who else than humans. And, sharks can be inquisitive and defensive creatures.

Sharks are known to attack humans when they are confused or curious. If a shark sees a human splashing in the water, it may investigate, leading to the shark attacking the human. Sharks are hardwired to attack anything that looks like a thrashing fish, like a foot with a tanned top and a paler bottom. Or they may bite the human because part of the human’s body looks like a fish. Sharks usually go away when they figure out the human is not a fish. Sometimes a human may go into a shark's territory, and then it attacks to protect its space, like a dog barking at a mail carrier.

Besides, last year there were only 64 documented unprovoked cases of shark attacks, which can be compared to the estimated 100 million sharks killed by humans every year. (Phys.org). Now that is quite a difference if we do say so ourselves. After a bit of research, we have found that sharks do not like to eat people since they prefer aquatic creatures like seals and fish. However, when sharks become inquisitive, they often go and nibble at the things they are investigating. Humans do not provide enough high-fat meat for sharks and are also foreign to their diet, so they have no interest in eating us. So after all this, doesn't it seem somewhat funny how petrified we are of them? Take it easy, and don’t judge a shark by its cover!

Kayla Adames, Paris Dozier, and Marcellus Peters-Jackson are 6th grade scholars at the Friendship Woodridge International Academy