The Mistaken Identity Theory Of White Sharks

Along the coastlines of U.S.A, Africa and Australia, sharks, especially the Great Whites, have received a bad reputation as very aggressive predators that like to attack and eat human beings. There is a long, complex and often bloody relationship between Carcharodon Carcharias and Homo sapiens. The great white’s reputation as ferocious predator is well-earned, yet these marine animals are not as once believed –indiscriminate ‘’eating machines’’. They are ambush hunters, taking prey by surprise from below or behind. After some research about these creatures, it is very easy to accept the belief and idea that they do not attack people without a definite or convincing reason. About 300 million years ago the marine life was arranged in a totally
White Sharks have a highly developed set of senses that support them in being the masters of marine hunting. A white shark is able to sense a person in the ocean long before that person can detect the shark. They can detect sounds and pick up smells from hundreds of meters away. They are even known that to sense a single drop of blood in an Olympic pool and have fantastic eye-sight under water. However, their senses, impressive as they are, are far from perfect. Most of the attacks on humans happen in conditions of poor visibility and background noise, which leads the White sharks to mistake human beings for their normal prey like: seals and sea lions. Most attack victims are surfers and boogie board riders. The shark that swims below sees a rough shape with hands that paddle from the sides. This shape has a very close resemblance to a sea lion, which is the main prey of Great White Sharks. The final theory about why attacks on human beings happen, is called the “Social/ Defensive Theory”. White Sharks are territorial animals and they may see people as competition when fish or other prey is in the water. They defend their ‘personal space’ by communicating through body posture and biting, and the less dominant sharks are normally forced to give way to the more dominant. A surfer or a swimmer at the surface, totally unaware of a shark’s presence below him, is also unaware of the fact that the predator is defending its space until bitten. As a result, all the reasons for shark attacks are visible and clear, although these seem less like attacks and more like accidents; especially considering the fact that most of the incidents are non-fatal. Some scientists even consider that in the initial bite, a shark is able to detect the calorific value of its potential prey, informing the shark through the ratio of fat to bone or muscle whether it is worth eating or not. This actually explains why in many cases the