Sharks aren’t these relentless killing machines. They’re more like the grumpy neighbor who just wants to eat fish and nap. Most attacks are “hit-and-run” mistaken identity—they think your flailing feet are a seal. And once they realize you’re not a tasty blubber-burrito, they think, “Ugh, this tastes like wetsuit and sunscreen,” and they leave. You’re more likely to be bitten by a New Yorker on the subway than by a shark in the ocean.
Let’s put it in everyday terms. You know that feeling when you almost step on a LEGO in the dark? That’s a shark’s life. Every miscalculation is a big, awkward, toothy oops. But while you get a bruised foot, they get a war crime on their reputation. Poor guys.
How Many Deaths Are Caused By Sharks Each Year at Erica Laforge blog
The numbers that’ll make you snort
Okay, let’s name some better killers. Lightning kills about 24,000 people a year. Cows? Yes, cows kill about 22 people annually in the US alone—mostly by being heavy and grumpy. Dogs? Around 25,000 deaths globally from rabies. And mosquitoes? They clock in at 725,000 human deaths each year. Compared to a mosquito, a shark is basically a gentle, ocean-going puppy.
If a mosquito had the same PR team as sharks, we’d have a horror movie called Jawsquito. Imagine the tagline: “This summer, the buzzing will never stop… and you can’t escape it by getting out of the water.” But no, we fear the fish with fins, not the bug with wings.
Remember the 2015 spike? There were six fatal shark attacks. Suddenly, headlines screamed, “SHARK KILLING SPREE!” Six out of 7 billion humans. That’s like one person in the entire state of Wyoming getting a papercut. You have a 600 times higher chance of drowning at the beach than getting attacked by a shark. Yet everyone remembers the shark, not the rip current.
