Sharks are not dangerous! People believe sharks are the most likely mammals to cause human deaths globally. Humans are a threat to sharks actually. Almost every year Humans kill about 100 million sharks. They are being killed because of their fins which create fin soup, for their skin which can be for leather, and a traditional medicine that is produced in China. Sharks help the environment. They remove weak and sick animals which will help keep the ocean healthy. People have called sharks puppies of the ocean, sharks even show affection to divers by nudging them or letting them swim beside them. The most friendly sharks are whale sharks. They have a peaceful nature and think we smell bad so they don’t attack lemon sharks, have a desire to be very social, and nurse sharks who are more familiar with humans. Sharks will attack when they feel threatened. We have feared sharks from the media and movies like Jaws, Deep Blue Sea, and The Meg which have caused us to view sharks as dangerous mammals that eat humans for the fun of it and having more of these movies fueled the fire. but in reality they only kill on average 6 humans a year, sometimes one every two years in the U.S. These are usually caused by accidents because they are curious or confused. If a shark sees you splash in the water it will want to investigate. They can mistaken our identity usually when on a surfboard and think we are seals or other animals. Sometimes they don’t like people invading their space and will attack. Their eyes are also not in front of them so this causes them to sometimes bump into things. Sharks have been around for millions of years so they don’t want us as food or need us as food. Sharks that come to beaches are smaller than us and will ignore us. There are bigger sharks that come to beaches but that is usually at night. They also have great skill at detecting prey and attacking them. There are 500+ species of sharks and a vast majority are small and harmless. The animals we love or view as harmless are actually the ones that kill. The number one animal to kill a human being is a Mosquito. They kill more than 700,000 per year from Chikungunya which is the most common mosquito disease that is most likely in Sub- Saharan Africa. The second animal is humans. We kill about 400,000 per year (homicide only). The number 3 animal is snakes; they kill up to 138,000 people a year which is from defending itself. The 4th animal is dogs. 49,000 humans a year can be from fear, and defense . The 5th animal is an Assassin Bugs about 10,000 people a year from a disease called Chagas. Sharks are not even in the top ten so you have nothing to worry about. That is why sharks being the most dangerous to humans is a myth.
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Darionna Cannon-Providence St. Mel-DMSF Class of 2028