# Why do shark attacks prompt panic? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2013, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061 "2013-08-12T18:56:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061/21 "2013-10-16T16:45:15Z")
At a very crowded beach a few summers ago a woman was screaming sharks at the top of her lungs, and for her kids to get out of the water - NOW! She was incredibly loud and non-stop, and it was all quite a scene, and she became and animated waving her arms and screaming screaming(!)… nobody did a thing… as it was a school of dolphins. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061/22 "2013-10-16T17:58:22Z")
_Does_ it prompt a panic in humans, though? ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061/23 "2013-10-16T18:48:15Z")
> [@Claire98909](#): > > Whenever there’s a shark attack or an “outbreak” of attacks, whether fatal or not, it always seems to prompt a panic among humans. > > Um…why? Just don’t go to the beach! Unless a person is holding a gun to your head and forcing you to swim in the ocean, then just don’t go. Problem solved. Are we humans so arrogant and entitled that we panic when something we do for fun (in a place that is not our natural habitat) is temporarily off limits? I don’t think panic is the word you’re looking for. A panic may occur at the time of the attack or sighting but what you’re referring to after such an event isn’t a panic. First, people will still go to the beach and just not go into the water, or just very shallow, and there are those, as mentioned above that will enjoy the water regardless. Those who don’t aren’t in a panic, they’re just wary of the heightened risk and probably a little annoyed or disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061/24 "2013-10-17T21:59:06Z")
A friend of ours was a scuba diver in the Navy, then worked as a diver for Scripps Institute of Oceanography (San Diego) until retirement a few years ago. The majority of his adult working life was spent scuba diving in the oceans. One time he mentioned working in the Great Barrier Reef, which I (a person who watches movies and TeeVee) associate with monster Great White sharks. I asked him if he ever was nervous about sharks. He told me that he had literally never worried about sharks, and hardly ever even thought about them unless he was looking at one (too many times to count), for the same reason he didn’t worry about getting struck by lightning. The odds against it happening to any one person were enormous. That would be small comfort to me, but having known him for 25 years to be a confident, soft-spoken, no macho-bluster type of guy, I believe him. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061/25 "2013-10-17T23:32:58Z")
Jaws. Seriously, I sometimes get the heebie jeebies going into the water, and my swimming is either in a pool or lake. Thanks, Spielberg. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061/26 "2013-10-18T00:26:04Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > I don’t know. Do you think [this shark](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/original-shark-pic.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hoax-slayer.com/shark-behind-divers.shtml&h=294&w=400&sz=17&tbnid=fHKZMN9Yle-u9M:&tbnh=126&tbnw=171&zoom=1&usg=__ui1ZdO-Bm6KY2vQnwvyNvKHMsQc=&docid=tiTc6A_ZZUwBWM&sa=X&ei=5qteUtmUN4aN2gWty4GwAQ&ved=0CEwQ9QEwBg) is pregnant, or has been pregnant in the last 8 years? Her tummy is a bit poochy. > > StG LOL! You’re my new favorite. I laughed out loud. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-shark-attacks-prompt-panic/666061.md?page=1)