Clearly, the shark in this video is much more interested in the fish handouts than it is in the hand doing the handing. "It seems we are not a preferable food item," Papastamatiou said. "When you look at [great white] attack statistics the actual number of victims who are eaten or consumed is very low. Normally, it's a case of the victim being bitten and then left alone." Some researchers have speculated that humans may be too bony for sharks to easily digest.
According to George Burgess at the Florida Program for Shark Research, there have been 182 nonfatal and 65 fatal unprovoked great white shark attacks worldwide in all of recorded history. [Read: Can Goldfish Really Grow to 30 Pounds?]
No one is quite sure why great whites attack humans when they do, but the prevailing theory is that they are taking "test bites."
"It might be a case of the shark simply investigating a potential prey item it sees on the surface," Papastamatiou explained. "How do you investigate? Well, you have to take a bite out of it. Once it has taken a bite it realizes it's not what it wants, and goes away."
Shark attacks are much rarer than the public perceives them to be, but they are still dangerous animals, Papastamatiou said, and you shouldn't try to replicate the events in this video during your next Australian vacation. "Every time you try and touch an animal of that size you are taking a risk, not because it's a great white specifically, but simply because it's a giant wild animal."
When studying sharks is your life's work, perhaps you can't worry so much about the risks involved. "There's no time for fear," Taylor once said.
This lady reminds me of that guy who thought himself the Grizzly Bear Whisperer in Alaska.....he and his girlfriend went up there to snuggle some grizzlies and became grizzly snacks.
This lady reminds me of that guy who thought himself the Grizzly Bear Whisperer in Alaska.....he and his girlfriend went up there to snuggle some grizzlies and became grizzly snacks.
See my post #3: Timothy Treadwell. He and g/f ended up in the belly of a bear.