A growing number of shark bites on humans may not be acts of aggression but reactions of self-defense triggered by human interference, including by social media influencers encouraging direct contact with the marine predators, say scientists.
Why It Matters
While public perception of sharks is often shaped by sensational headlines and films such as Jaws, marine biologists emphasize that sharks rarely initiate contact with humans unprovoked.
“There’s an incredibly negative perception bias towards sharks,” said Professor Eric Clua of PSL University, lead author of a new study into shark attacks.
“They are responsible for fewer than ten human deaths a year worldwide, whereas dogs are responsible for more than 10,000 deaths and are perceived positively by the public,” he told The Times.
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What To Know
The research by Clua and his colleagues studied 74 recorded shark bites in French Polynesia between 2009 and 2023. Of these, roughly 5 percent were found to be defensive bites occurring immediately after a human had touched or provoked the shark. Most bites were superficial, lacking the tissue removal typical of predatory attacks.
Their broader analysis of global bite databases identified over 300 additional incidents that fit this retaliatory pattern.
The study found that certain human activities at sea, such as fishing and particularly underwater spearfishing and the management of passive fish traps, are associated with this type of bite.
Unlike predatory events, these interactions often lacked warning signals.
“The existence of this behavior cautions that attacks on sharks have the potential to trigger retaliatory bites and that untrained persons should never attempt to come to the rescue of a distressed shark, which may bite indiscriminately,” the study said.
Numerous celebrities and influencers have shared striking images of themselves alongside sharks over the years, with notable names like Bella Thorne, Will Smith, and Zac Efron among them.
Influencer Ocean Ramsey, known for her shark-swimming videos, has defended her content as educational. But critics argue it encourages risky behaviors and misleads viewers about the nature of some of these animals.
What People Are Saying
Eric Clua told Newsweek: “Many influencers are spreading around a wrong message by posting photos in which they are grating the dorsal fin of a shark just to ‘[show that] they are nice animas and should be protected.’ This is a wrong message as sharks are always potentially dangerous and should be respected as such.”
Clua said told The Times: “I don’t encourage, as many influencers do on social networks, [people] to cling to a shark’s dorsal fin or stroke it, under the pretext of proving that they are harmless and [those people are] supposedly working for their conservation.”
He added: “People know the difference between a [Yorkshire terrier] and a pit bull, whereas they don’t know the difference between a blacktip reef shark and a bull shark, which are their marine equivalents.”
David Shiffman, a marine biologist not involved in the study, said in a 2019 interview with The Washington Post: “I can’t believe that ‘please don’t grab the 18 foot long wild predator’ is something that needs to be explicitly said out loud, but here we are.”
What Happens Next
Clua and his co-authors call for media outlets to reconsider labeling all shark bites as “attacks” as this could be misleading, especially in cases of self-defense. The media often portrays sharks as aggressors, even when humans initiate contact, a narrative harms public perception of sharks and undermines conservation efforts that depend on public support, they said.
