I purposely avoided Why Sharks Attack when it first aired on the BBC in July. I’d guessed the documentary was going to be a sensationalist look at the recent headline-grabbing shark attacks in the Red Sea. Think threatening music cut with menacing shots of Great Whites. Fortunately, like many things, I was wrong.
The show turned out to be a thoughtful investigation into shark behaviour, their habitats and biology. The main focus is on the Red Sea but it also covers notable attacks in Florida and Australia. Egypt in particular has suffered 3 fatal sharks attacks in the last 2 years. So it attempts to answer two key questions: are shark attacks on the rise and why?
The documentary moves quickly to answer them. The main takeaways won’t be surprising to divers: no, sharks are not angry vicious killers targeting people and worldwide shark attack numbers have stayed relatively consistent since records began.
It is contextualised against a backdrop of the steeply declining shark population that is balanced by the increasing number of people getting into the water.
As a diver I’m not particularly worried about shark attacks in themselves but do have a healthy respect for them as unpredictable wild animals. So any insight into the circumstances around attacks shouldn’t be ignored. As many divers know it can be surprisingly hard to actually encounter sharks even when looking for them.
Footage from attacks, where available, is sympathetically used and it never strays into voyeurism. The documentary’s strength is relying on expert testimony on shark behaviour and the examination of the circumstances of the attacks.
One attack captured underwater showed an Oceanic Whitetip biting a diver’s leg in the Red Sea. The shark was surrounded, with divers above and below, which clearly threatened the shark and pushed it into attacking. This behaviour was at the forefront of my mind on a recent dive at Elphinstone reef that had a huge amount of divers in the water looking to see the same species of shark.
There was some insightful general information about sharks in the Red Sea that piqued my interest. The underwater topography is unusual; the proximity of deep (200m+) water close to shore naturally makes shark encounters more likely. It was also noted that most sharks examined in the Red Sea have been malnourished – obviously raising the risks of possible attacks as desperation forces them to look for more unusual food (people).
The show missed an opportunity to highlight some of the more controversial measures taken around the world, including Australia, to prevent attacks. There’s no mention of shark nets, much opposed by conservationists, that are still widely used. The submerged nets placed strategically at beaches aims to reduce shark attacks at the expense of killing the shark.
A suitably modern prevention technique is looked at; the recent use of drones in Australia to spot sharks and then warn swimmers. If anything this made the omission of the more destructive measures taken more egregious.
When discussing shark attacks it’s hard to get away from the overall balance sheet. Approximately 1,000,000 sharks are killed annually for each attack on a human.
– Why Sharks attack is still available to stream (in the UK) on BBC iPlayer
