According to a wildlife biologist and “Shark Week” presenter, while it’s vital to show respect to the ocean’s most feared predators, vacationing families should not succumb to the current “panic” over recent summer shark incidents.
“This year marks the 50th anniversary of the film ‘Jaws,’ which has instilled more panic and widespread fear of sharks than any other factor,” Forrest Galante mentioned to Fox News Digital this week. “In fact, Steven Spielberg himself has expressed regret for creating the movie.”
Increased fear could also be a product of scientific advances that have allowed biologists to more closely track sharks.
Dold, an 11-foot, 761-pound great white shark, is being tracked by researchers as he makes his way down the Florida coast. (OCEARCH)
He emphasized the importance of being vigilant when swimming in the ocean during twilight hours. Additionally, it’s wise to steer clear of estuaries, natural fish breeding grounds, and regions with abundant fish, bird activity, or high numbers of seals or sea lions.
Those are called “marine-rich environments” and are often found at river mouths, he noted. That’s where sharks prey naturally, and humans swimming there could get caught in the mix.
Galante also mentioned more specific actions that could attract sharks.
“One thing that a lot of people don’t think of is not wearing shiny jewelry, because that flash can simulate a bait fish,” he said. “The crunching of a beer can or a water bottle actually nearly perfectly simulates the crunching of fish bones. So these little things that we do inadvertently can actually lead to a higher likelihood of a negative encounter with sharks.”
Beachgoers crowd onto Miami Beach, Fla. (US Sun/Mega)
The bottom line for beach vacationers is to do a bit of homework about their destination before they arrive.
“If you do that little bit of reading — and I mean the same amount of time you’ll be scrolling Instagram — that few minutes of reading, you’re gonna end up minimizing your risks so substantially that, personally, I wouldn’t even worry about sharks.”
