MovieChat Forums > The Reef (2011) Discussion > Are sharks really that agressive?

Are sharks really that agressive?


I was under the assumption that it would be rare for a shark to attack a human and even further as a food source? PETA and their damn lies.. lol

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It is very rare. Movies like this love to exploit sharks and make people afraid of them. More people are killed by falling vending machines than sharks, the only reason people get bitten is because they either disturb the sharks, are near them when they are feeding.

I've been swimming in the ocean for years where sharks are often sighted, never been attacked, never seen someone get attacked.

The only reason people get all worried when they hear about a "attack" is because the media loves the attention.

"Killer shark on the loose at popular beach!!!!!"

*beep* probably a little nip on the leg and it swam off after realizing that you weren't food.

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Yes they are that aggressive. There are plenty of attacks that you don't hear about due to the money made from tourism. The Sharm-el-sheikh attacks are the most recent tourist attacks I have heard of. Due to the repeat attacks over a short space of time there was no way the tourist board could keep a lid on it. It is their environment and they are perfect predators. If you choose to enter their environment then that's up to you.

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More people are killed by falling vending machines than sharks


But, that's incomparable, because humans are around vending machines more than they are around sharks. If humans were immersed in ocean water daily, then I'm sure attack rates would go up. These 'more likely to...' analogies are so cliche and annoying. It doesn't change the fact that sharks are dangerous. They are dangerous and aggressive. People romantacise sharks a little too much when they leap to their defense.

Blue Valentine/Williams/Gosling/Weaver/Hawkes

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Well put, what a load of cack.

"I'm a hero with coward's legs." - Spike Milligan

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3 people in under 24 hours and 2 in a couple of hours is a lot of food. Way more than a GW would need.



I'm sure those people would have been very grateful, if you'd been there to tell the shark that.

"How long was I in the army? Five foot eleven." - Spike Milligan

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Just like a cannibalistic serial killer should not brand the entire humanity agressive manhunter zombies.

Maybe that spectacular shark was aggressive, was desperately hungry to stalk the first prey it encounter to that far, maybe was a psychopath and it enjoyed every minute of horror...Or maybe shark was just pissed at that damn seal dinner who managed to get away yesterday...

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There have been plenty of reports of a Great White acting in this way. It stalked them. Lets not forget with the wetsuit etc people are often mistaken as seals. It's also said that sharks do not like the taste of humans. However a rogue shark will still pursue and hunt you down. The 1st attack in the movie was due to excessive splashing etc.

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A mate of mine will tell you they are... read his story here:
http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/01/18/50355_tasmania-news.html

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A million sharks...pretty sure some of them are aggressive.

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I know that sharks do not usually prey on humans for food.. However, a hungry animal is a hungry animal. Case-in-point: Humans don't usually prey on other humans, but when pushed to extremes, humans will cannibalize.

Sharks are territorial... and if their main food source is nowhere to be found, they will eat whatever is around..



https://www.facebook.com/pages/JB-Beverley/100748596648910

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http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/film-reopens-painful-memories-for-shark-attack-victim/story-e6freqex-1226020395592

This movie is based on this incident in the 80's so I guess every now and then sharks are that aggressive...

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The "more likely" stats are true, they're just not being stated correctly, leading to confusion. When reciting these type of statistics, you should phrase them like this: You're more likely to be killed by falling airplane parts than killed by a shark WHILE SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN. They DO take into account average time spent in the ocean....some people just don't state them correctly.

Sharks, including white sharks, rarely attack humans....and on the rare occasion they DO attack us, it is often them mistaking us for their usual prey or "exploring" out of curiosity, and the bites are usually non-fatal and the shark leaves. You have a better chance of being killed by falling airplane parts than being killed by a shark while swimming in the ocean. Surfers are often attacked because they look like the sharks' main prey from below - sea lions and/or sea turtles. Great white sharks do not stalk prey in the open ocean, so the movie in that sense is pretty unrealistic. Reef sharks and some other species do, however, so I'd be far more worried if I saw a group of them around. Even so, if you're not wounded and not making a ruckus, the chances of being attacked even in a situation like this is extremely slim. Splashing around and making noise is the worst thing you can do. This mimics the actions of a wounded fish or animal and actually makes a shark MORE likely to attack.

Sharks are FAR more than killing machines - unfortunately that is the characterization that has led them to be hunted to near extinction.

As I said, you have a better chance of being killed by falling airplane parts than being killed by a shark while swimming in the ocean. Most years an average of 5-10 people are killed by sharks worldwide. Conversely, 75 to as many as 200 MILLION sharks are SLAUGHTERED by humans every year. Perhaps we need to be shown what it feels like to have our limbs cut off for soup while we're still alive, then having our useless carcass wastefully thrown into the ocean to drown and bleed out in a slow, agonizing death. The way these magnificent animals are treated is absolutely horrendous - they have FAR more to fear from us than we do from them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0qkr2cIe5c

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Very well said !

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I hear they are attracted to blood. Maybe one of the females was menstrating.

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