Unlike the other aquatic species, we fear attack from sharks disproportionately to the actual risk, simply by virtue of the fact that some of them are large enough to mistake us for their prey under the right circumstances. Our characterization of sharks as ruthless killers intent on consuming us reflects our emotional response to the concept of being eaten alive than reality (Ellis, 1989)
According to many experts, one clue to this conclusion is the frequency of initial bite that is not followed up by a full-fledged attack. It seems that this is attributable to the fact that sharks tend to test potential prey before consuming it, partly, it is thought, to protect their teeth from unnecessary loss (Perrine, 1995)
Under the right circumstances, human beings simply find themselves within the vicinity of sharks looking to feed and our awkward swimming motion just happens to mimic some of the signals of distress or injury in the shark's natural prey (Stevens, 1999). In many cases, surfers fall victim to shark attack precisely because they violate some of the basic rules of shark safety: they swim at dawn and dusk, when sharks are most likely to feed, and they dangle their limbs from the sides of a flat board at the surface, despite the fact that sharks almost always attack from the and target prey that is approximately our size and our apparent shape, especially when we lie on the surface of the water with our limbs extended into the water (Ritter, 2000)
Contrary to assumption, sharks - even those large enough to consume us - do not actually hunt human beings. Under the right circumstances, human beings simply find themselves within the vicinity of sharks looking to feed and our awkward swimming motion just happens to mimic some of the signals of distress or injury in the shark's natural prey (Stevens, 1999)