Overcoming that Fear of Sharks
In recent weeks, there have been a couple of shark attacks in St Martin and St Kitts and Nevis. Rather than try to convince readers how incredibly rare shark attacks are, Dr Anjani Ganase delves into why we fear sharks and what we can do to overcome the fear (if we wanted to). Hammerhead shark with free diver. Credit: Amanda Cotton/ Coral Reef Image Bank Why do we fear sharks? The fear of sharks that we have simply does not stem from the facts about shark attacks, as the risk is incredibly low. There are a few reasons for this fear. The first driver is evolution, where much of the fears is thought to be primal. On the most basic level, that idea of being eaten by a shark is horrifying, as no one wants to be a meal. It is a fear that dates back to our ancestors who had to protect themselves against predators. Add to this, the stories that surround shark attacks by seafarers. One well-known account came from the survivors of the USS Indianapolis who were torpedoed by the Japanese du...