The Hollywood image given to sharks doesn't accurately portray their natural behavior as predatory creatures of the sea. Humans aren't appetizing to them. Human blood doesn't excite them in the way that the blood of their normal prey does. When they attack people, it is normally just a single bite to get a taste.

Fish and seals and other various sea creatures make up that fearsome hunter's diet. And they've evolved wonderfully to suit their trade; strong, fast, nimble, and lots and lots of teeth, which is a big part of why we find them so scary.

People are most likely to be in danger of a shark attack when they inadvertently mimic the behavior of a shark's prey. For example, a surfer who has swum far out from shore and is thrashing around, trying to get into position to ride a big wave, may seem like an injured seal to a shark. The surfer is has no idea that their behavior is attracting the shark. In a way, it's like a hapless swimmer who gets caught in a riptide and pulled out to sea. It's just an unfortunate coincidence.

Nevertheless, out of the millions of people who visit beaches each year, only about 12 are killed by sharks. Also, there are just about 90 shark attacks yearly, with many of them being just bumps or nudges, usually only leaving a bruise. Of course it is a tragedy whenever an accident occurs, but we must remember that these are accidents and not intentional actions on the part of sharks.

Strange though it may seem, falling coconuts actually cause 10 times as many injuries to humans as sharks do. The Tiger shark and the great white shark may be the most aggressive of sharks but they very rarely attack humans. You'll find yourself more at risk whilst you drive to the beach, bearing in mind that driving kills more than 40,000 people on the US each year.

When a person is bitten by a shark, of course the victim deserves sympathy. But so the hundreds of sharks that will be hunted and killed in revenge. The sharks have no idea what they have done or why we are trying to kill them; unlike humans, they can't be told why they are being subjected to a punishment. We have only two choices: to kill sharks, or to live with them peacefully. Killing them hasn't made us safer, so perhaps we should try the second option.