Sharks attacking alone are believed to be responsible for 94% of shark attacks. You usually do not see the shark before it attacks, in fact in all recorded shark attacks the shark was only seen in one-third of them. Sharks attack between 50-75 people per year worldwide, with about 8-12 fatalities. Although shark attacks get a lot of attention, far more people get killed by bees, lightning, crocodiles and many other natural dangers. We, on the other hand, kill between 20 and 100 million sharks every year though either fishing activities or personal gain.
Of the 350 shark species only 32 species have been reported in attacks on humans, and an additional 36 species are considered potentially dangerous. About 80% of sharks grow to less than 5 feet and are either unable to hurt people or are rarely encountered.
Almost any shark 6 feet or longer is a potential danger, but three species have been blamed for most of the attacks on humans: the bull shark, the great white shark and the tiger shark. These three are known to all feed on seals and sea lions, and the tiger shark has been known to feed on large sea turtles.
Several researchers have pointed out a striking similarity between wet-suited divers, complete with flippers, and seals. It has been suggested that attacks on divers, especially in murky waters, could simply be a result of a mistake on the sharks part.Few attacks involve numerous bites. This indicates that in most cases the attacking shark mistook the victim for its usual food, and did not attack any further. This supports the theory above.
It is lucky that sharks do not consider humans as suitable food. If the long-standing notion, that human blood is a strong attractant that excites sharks into a feeding frenzy, is true then the presence of blood would have induced the shark to strike the victim numerous times over. As this is not the case we can assume that the idea is false and that sharks are not out to soly kill humans. People do die from shark attacks, about 25%, but the cause of death is not from being attacked over again, or from being eaten alive as most people fear, it is most commonly from shock and loss of blood.