Why do people think sharks are scary at all?

[RainBat]

Is it just because of horror media like Jaws?

[Ms_Facesitter]

No. I like horror movies, but the reason is not the horror movies but the damage they can inflict on us fragile human beings. They bite and start shredding. I've seen a shark bite on a giant tuna that a fisherman was reeling in. That whole part of that fish is just GONE. That's scary.

Same with bears, lions, wolves, crocodiles. They are all powerful animals and their power is scary. When cats play, they sometimes will scratch you accidently. A lion isn't that much different, but because of their sheer power you'll be left with quite the bleeder.

[RainBat]

A cow can gore a person well enough too.

There's very little shark attacks, sharks are very docile around humans.

[Ms_Facesitter]

I know, but they're still herbivores and don't look at you as a potential food source and we're also not really scary looking either.

[RainBat]

Sharks generally don't look at us as a potential food source either, unless we're struggling and being erratic.

[Ms_Facesitter]

I know. But I am afraid of them because I know what damagr they Can inflict.

[Ms_Facesitter]

Like Oceanic White tips. In the open water food is harder to come by, and they will consider you.

[whereismyjohnny]

Because they are scary.

[RainBat]

I asked why

[whereismyjohnny]

I think there are many reasons. They are big and quick and I think everyone gets uncomfortable at just the thought of being attacked by one. People are scared of what can harm them.

I do think that movies contribute to this fear as they portray them as manhunters that are just waiting to attack which isn't really true.

[RainBat]

Sharks are unlikely to want to try and eat a human at all

[whereismyjohnny]

That's why I said that this stuff from movies isn't really true.

[RainBat]

Yeah it's just a bit baffling, I wonder if someone made a movie about cows people would be scared of cows.

[andreasderjuengere]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0qWlsywg8s

[andreasderjuengere]

Sharks do attack humans from time to time. So there's no reason to NOT be concerned about them.

In i. e. movies there's much exaggeration and imagination added; no doubts about that.

Some of their physical features - especially the eyes - are perceived as 'menacing' by us; and this adds some scare-factor to the scene; subconsciously, this is one natural mechanism to ''survive''.

During stone age people who do not have this instinct would have been sorted out by evolution; nowadays we just give them office jobs.

[RainBat]

Yeah, it's strange, I think the eyes of sharks look cute and neotenous, I love sharks, and shark attacks generally occur when people act erratic around sharks, and make them think they're being threatened, or they're struggling and easy prey.

[TheSpaceGnome]

Jaws was made to invoke the already existing fear of sharks in humans.

Many species play or investigate by biting. Most shark bites on humans, despite often dealing large amounts of physical damage when done, are usually exploratory bites, not predatory ones. However all predatory animals capable of harming, killing, or eating us, will invoke at least some level of fear in most people. Because fear is good for survival.

[TheSpaceGnome]

The problem isn't fear though, it's lack of respect for ecology. You can fear something enough to avoid interacting with it without having to kill them off.

[Jccowen77]

Jaws yeah. Deep Blue Sea and other shark movies. But sharks only kill ten people a year on average. What's interesting is that dogs kill 25,000 people worldwide every year on average. But everybody loves dogs, right? I mean to meet up with a shark you have to go out where they are and swim around. Dogs on the other hand are everywhere. You could be attacked by a rogue dog walking around the block. But nobody's afraid of them. It's weird. Also, humans kill 100 million sharks a year in the fishing industry. And we're afraid of them? It's almost comical our irrational fear of them.

[inhua]

it's human nature to be naturally scared of what we don't know or understand and default to personal biases due to the Halo Effect, the Reverse Halo Effect or in the case of sharks, the Horned Effect. it's a safety mechanism hardwired into us for protection so we can identify danger quickly.

that being said, sharks are fascinating creatures much like spiders, scorpions, snakes, centipedes, toads, electric eels, octopuses, squids and hippos.

[Tyrael]

They are scary. There's no doubt that media portrays them as far worse than they really are, but they're still extremely dangerous.

[RainBat]

They're really not, they're only dangerous if you mess with them, but so are most large animals.

[TheSpaceGnome]

"if you mess with them" is the only time any animal is ever dangerous.

[RainBat]

Yeah, also when most animals, even herbivores are dangerous.

[Mangospacho]

Because they’re eating machines. They never get tired of eating and they do attack humans thinking they’re fish because they’re also stupid. The worst combination is a hangry stupid animal that thinks you’re a fish.

[RainBat]

Barely ever happens, sharks tend to not like eating things that are too big to fit in their mouths, unless they're either dead or struggling, it's more likely a self fulfilling prophecy, people struggle because they're scared of sharks, sharks see distress, sharks think its and injured animal

[Mangospacho]

It’s true shark attacks are rare and most sharks can tell the difference between humans and fish but there are times of day where they are legitimately unable to tell the difference since it’s too dark to see. Plus there are some shark attacks where the person doesn’t see it coming at all. I’m, personally, more afraid of animals possibly being rabid because I’m hardly ever in the water where there are sharks nearby.

[dustybiker]

They are a predator. A human vulnerability. That makes them scary by default.

[RainBat]

Well, chickens are also predators.

[dustybiker]

@sirderpsalot123 Have to share this moment.

[sirderpsalot123]

LOL I just spit out my drink 🤣🤣

[dustybiker]

@sirderpsalot123 You’re welcome. 😎

[sirderpsalot123]

@dustybiker It's been a bad day and I needed that. Thank you 😂

[dustybiker]

@sirderpsalot123 Sorry to hear that. **big hugs** Glad I could help. 🤗

[sirderpsalot123]

@dustybiker All good. I'll survive 🤗

[dustybiker]

@sirderpsalot123 Okay. Good. 😎

[RavVid]

No. It is because they do bite and eat people. Been a few cases of that in Australia so far this summer.

[DeeDeeDeVour]

Simply because several sharks are truly scary.

[FreyaRed]

I water they are top predators and humans are easy prey.

[exitseven]

because they are killing machines that live in an environment where humans are just fish food.

[Farmerboy2]

Um. Ya. Have you seen a shark. Would you swim in a pond knowing there are sharks in there. Fuck that.

[RainBat]

Yeah, sharks are way docile

[Farmerboy2]

Yeah ok then.

[joeldalton]

Yup because of jaws. They’re great animals, though.

[sirderpsalot123]

Sharks are cool but I'm still not going to mess with one, lol...

[HugeDikEng]

No they are nature's perfect killers one bite dead.

[RainBat]

Lmao are you joking?

[HugeDikEng]

Sharks are dangerous

[RainBat]

No they're not.

[HugeDikEng]

A shark killed my brother sister cousin brst friend dog

[RainBat]

Ok you're joking.

[HugeDikEng]

No sharks are extremely dangerous

[msc545]

They sometimes try to eat people. That's why.

[Dinosaursandanime65]

They forgot that they have to go to the shark themselves for them to be a threat

[NathanDavis]

they're not scary... we're scaredy...