Want To Survive A Shark Attack? Be A Lady

by Deepa Lakshmin 28 mins ago

There’s plenty of fish in sea, yes, but there’s also a ton of sharks — and a new Australian study suggests that they prefer to feast on men rather than on women.

The researchers from Queensland’s Bond University discovered that 84% of unprovoked — unprovoked! — shark attacks against humans were directed at males. Men also made up 89% of deaths-by-shark-bite. Meanwhile, women were found to be nine times more likely to survive a shark attack than guys were.

“Potentially men spend more time in the water, and are more risk-prone,” associate professor and study author Daryl McPhee told the Telegraph.

Shark attack males Giphy

The number of unprovoked shark bites has tripled worldwide in the past three decades, prompting increased research on the topic. Australia has the highest number of shark attack fatalities, and over 18% of the country’s 171 recorded attacks between 1982 to 2011 were deadly. Compare that to the U.S., where only 25 out of 769 unprovoked bites — a mere 3.6% — killed the victim.

But this research only applies to unprovoked shark bites. Provoked shark attacks are a whole new ballgame: “People patting sharks on the head, making them angry, putting their hand in the shark’s mouth to get a fishing hook out, jumping on sharks and trying to ride them,” as McPhee explains.

Moral of the story: Guys and girls (but especially guys), don’t piss off a shark. Don’t swim towards a shark. Just don’t go anywhere near a shark unless it’s at an aquarium, OK?

Now here’s a pug in a shark costume to help you get over these findings.

Pug in a shark costume gif Giphy