Are We over the "Jaws Effect?"

Posted by fleahunter 4 days ago

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Comments

Comment by jppope 1 hour ago

A woman got bitten by a shark pretty bad down the street from me about a mile away when I lived there: https://abc7.com/post/newport-beach-shark-bite-victim-recove...

I understand they are out there, I understand there is an ecosystem and they are important to that ecosystem... all that goes out the window when you see a great white cruising through the water. We're cool as long as they are out at sea and not where I'm at.

Comment by neom 1 hour ago

My friend David was attacked by a shark and lost his leg, the story is quite incredible: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/13-david-byrd-was-brut...

Comment by abraae 16 minutes ago

Jaws is the only movie (within reason I guess) that I don't let my 13 year old watch.

We live by the sea with one of the world's best marine reserves right off shore. There are plenty of fish including sharks living right off the beach and you need nothing more than a mask and snorkel to get right in amongst them.

When I watched Jaws as a kid when it first came out, it scared me shitless and I still carry some of that trauma whenever I am snorkeling over a deep canyon where the blue just goes on forever and you can't see the bottom.

I just don't want my child to miss out on that because of the ability of Hollywood to scare us.

Comment by andrewstuart 1 hour ago

People get killed by sharks in Australia regularly (two last week I think).

But I don’t think the public sees sharks as monsters to be destroyed.

Sharks are wild animals and we are in their habitat.

Sharks deserve protection even if they eat people.

Comment by unsnap_biceps 1 hour ago

People don't get killed regularly

https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/shark-attacks/yearly-world...

There are 4 confirmed fatalities in 2024 and 47 unprovoked bites.

Comment by helsinkiandrew 1 minute ago

> There are 4 confirmed fatalities in 2024 and 47 unprovoked bites.

To put that into perspective - there's about 4-5 fatal cow attacks in the UK alone a year.

https://cattlesafety.co.uk/facts-stats/when-cows-attack

Comment by matwood 19 minutes ago

Yeah, when you think about how many people are in the water they are incredibly rare. I grew up surfing and never thought much about sharks. I knew they were out there, but the drive to the beach was much more dangerous.

Comment by NedF 1 minute ago

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Comment by darig 17 minutes ago

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Comment by askvictor 47 minutes ago

Agree. Though I read that shark attacks are increasing. Possibly due to changing water temperatures, or humans over-fishing their natural prey, leading them to look elsewhere.