Although shark attacks get a lot of attention, many more people are killed each year by elephants, bees, crocodiles, lightening and other natural dangers. Of the 400 known kinds of sharks, about 80 percent grow to less than five feet and are therefore unable to hurt people.
Most sharks never encounter a human being.
Most scientists believe that shark attacks result from a case of mistaken identity , such as when a swimmer is among fish where a shark is feeding, when the shark believes it is scaring off an intruder, when a person bumps into or steps on a shark, or when the shark confuses its usual prey with a human. Large sharks, like the oceanic whitetip shark, the shortfin mako shark, the bull shark, the blue shark and the great white shark, all have been involved in fatal shark attacks. Scientists think these attacks may often occur as mistakes since these animals prefer large prey such as seals and tuna. A swimmer lying on a surfboard or raft with legs dangling over the side may look remarkably like a sea lion to a shark. For similar reasons, the most dangerous sharks for swimmers in the Gulf of Mexico are the tiger shark, the hammerhead shark, the lemon shark and the bull shark.