Influencers are being urged to abandon the hunt for the ultimate shark selfie as experts warn that risky close encounters are leading to serious injuries.
Shark bites remain uncommon worldwide, but at least three social media creators have been attacked in the past year, raising fresh concerns about dangerous behavior in the water.
Marine scientists say they are increasingly alarmed by the surge of viral videos showing people swimming within inches of the apex predators, with some clips appearing to show individuals touching, grabbing or even riding sharks for content.
Among the recent cases was fishing influencer Henry Gibbs, who was described as “incredibly lucky” to survive after a reef shark attacked him while he was spearfishing in Fiji on July 18.
The New Zealander came close to losing his right leg and needed four operations as well as a skin graft to save the limb.
In another incident, a 26-year-old Chinese content creator was bitten by a nurse shark in the Maldives in December 2025.
Researchers with the International Shark Attack File, which monitors human-shark encounters around the globe, said the past three years have brought a noticeable rise in attacks involving people who were filming sharks.
A recent study examining “swim with wildlife” tours also found that influencers and photographers were the participants most likely to disregard safety guidance.
Tayane Dalazen showed her scar after being bitten by a nurse shark while diving off the Brazilian coast
A video showed the attack, which left Ms Dalazen with lacerations to her thigh
In February 2025, a tourist had both hands bitten off while attempting to get a picture of a bull shark from shallow water in the Caribbean, according to local authorities.
Just two months later a snorkeller carrying a ‘selfie stick’ off the coast of Israel was killed by sharks, reportedly while trying to take a photograph.
Despite this, the risk of being bitten by a shark remains extremely low with the number of attacks having remained stable at about 70 bites per year over the last 30 years.
Tayane Dalazen, a Brazilian lawyer and social media personality, was attacked by a nurse shark while on a diving trip in April.
The 37-year-old said that on the day she was attacked things didn’t quite feel right.
‘I knew something was different because the sharks were on the surface. There were a lot of them,’ she said.
‘Later, I discovered [the tour organisers] were feeding the sharks so that they would interact with the tourists.’
But when she was in the water, she felt a sudden ‘strong pressure’ on her leg.
‘When the shark bit me, the pain was very strong,’ she said. ‘I stayed calm because I knew I couldn’t fight the animal.’
A nurse shark, more than seven feet long, had clamped its jaws around her thigh then held her underwater for several seconds before she escaped.
Ms Dalazen said the experience, which left her with lacerations to her thigh, was ‘very frightening’.
After the attack, she posted the footage of the bite online where it has since been viewed by millions.
Shark experts have said the increasing frequency of shark videos online meant serious incidents were more likely
But shark scientist Kristian Parton said she is seeing footage of shark attacks ‘every single week now’ and that it has increased.
‘We’re going to see people ending up in really serious incidents with sharks. We’re talking about a true apex predator, a very large wild animal.
‘You wouldn’t walk into the Serengeti and try and put your hand on the face of a lion.’
Ms Parton advised against approaching sharks in their habitats because it causes stress and deprives them of an area required to survive.
While Ms Dalazen was bitten by a nurse shark, considered to be a more docile species, some influencers have been filmed touching tiger sharks and even great whites.
Studies have shown approaching or touching sharks leads to high levels of hormones called glucocorticoids.
If a shark produces too much of the hormone, it can lead to a weakened immune system, an increased mortality and aborted offspring.
One of the most famous shark-based content creators is Ocean Ramsey, a 38-year-old former model who shot to fame in 2019 after she was pictured swimming with one of the largest great white sharks ever seen.
She often posts footage of her touching sharks and runs ‘Dive with Ocean’ shark tours for paying customers in Hawaii.
‘My intent with all of my content has never been to gain views, it’s to gain protection for sharks,’ Ramsey said.
‘I’ve contributed to research articles, data collection… all of my work stems down to education.’
She denies that getting close to the sharks and touching them causes harm: ‘Most of my work and what I share is respecting and observing from a distance.’
‘I observe their behaviour and they choose to interact with me. They always make the first approach.’
Henry Gibbs, a Kiwi fishing influencer, nearly lost his leg after being mauled by a shark
Mr Gibbs was attacked by a grey reef shark in Fiji, after which he needed four surgeries
What about claims by scientists that videos showing sharks being touched encourage others to take risks and do the same?
‘You’ve got to give the general public some accountability,’ Ramsey insisted.
‘I think most people are observing what I’m sharing with an educational message and they’re not going out to just replicate that.’
Shark expert Dr Jack Cooper said: ‘I really cannot explain how going up to a shark and touching it or riding it is doing anything to aid conservation.’
Dr Cooper said filming encounters was merely showing a human harassing a shark.
He said: ‘That’s not promoting any policies about what we could do to reduce overfishing or to give more protections for sharks.
‘And it’s certainly not providing scientific data that will tell us how the shark populations are doing or what policies might actually help conserve them.’
Eric Clua, a marine biologist at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris, who has done research into the motivations behind shark bites, said the number of incidents caused by people getting too close to sharks is increasing.
The reason? Social media videos make people consider them less dangerous.
‘The message transmitted by influencers is “Look! Touch the shark, nothing will happen to you”,’ he said.
Shark swimming and diving are booming in popularity around the world with travel site TripAdvisor listing more than 140 such experiences in the Maldives alone.
Some of the listings advertise ‘the ultimate selfie’ with sharks, but the warning from experts is clear: getting that perfect shot could come at a painful price.
