The seas and oceans of our planet are the habitat of many living things. Among them are predators, which, of course, include sharks. These fish are also the most ancient inhabitants of our planet. They appeared in terrestrial waters about 400 million years ago, that is, much earlier than dinosaurs. And today, many species of sharks feel great in the open sea. Scientists have already counted more than 350 of these species, and, in their opinion, this is not the limit.
The structure of the skeleton of these predators is unique. It consists only of cartilage, and these fish have no bones at all. Also, all types of sharks have unique teeth. They are large, sharp and jagged at the edges. These teeth are arranged in five, and even in seven rows. And if a shark breaks a tooth, then a new one will grow in its place. Thus, each of them has up to six "lives". And with these teeth they are ready to tear and bite everything that at least somehow reminds them of food.
But not all species of sharks are dangerous to humans. Only four of them “earned” such a reputation due to unprovoked attacks on people, after which there were deaths. These are species such as tiger, white, long-winged and blunt-shark.
And the first place in this rating belongs, of course, to the white shark. And this is not only due to the “black PR” that the media arranged for this shark. After all, this species of shark has developed for millions of years. And over the years he managed to turn into a perfect hunter. Due to its sensitive sense of smell, the white shark can smell blood in minute concentrations at a distance of 5 kilometers. She also has a wonderful natural disguise. Blue color above and white below make it invisible in the surface of the water. And her teeth, as well as speed and attack power, do not give the victim a single chance to avoid the attack. Usually she inflicts a rapid blow to the victim from below and makes a powerful bite. After that, a white shark swims to the side, and waits for the prey to bleed.
Other species of sharks, such as tiger, long-winged and blunt-winged, are also capable of causing fatal damage to humans. In second place on this list is a tiger shark. It is very often found in bays, in estuaries, in small places near islands. This shark comes close to the shore and is mainly targeted by swimmers, surfers and divers. And although such attacks do not happen very often, it is not worth minimizing the danger of this type.
A blunt shark lives near the shores of Africa, India and other third world countries. Statistics here are extremely weak. Therefore, the exact number of attacks on humans of this species of sharks cannot be fixed. And perhaps a blunt shark is even more dangerous than a white and a tiger shark. After all, it lives at shallow depths and near densely populated shores. Also, it often goes into fresh water and appears on the shallows. She also does not have such an easily recognizable appearance as other species of sharks. And often her attacks are attributed to a “shark of unknown species.” Therefore, its place in this rating of dangerous species is difficult to determine.
It is also difficult to determine the number of attacks on humans by the long-shark. It lives in the open sea and appears extremely rarely off the coast. And most of the attacks on her part were committed during the First and Second World War. Then many ships and planes crashed on the high seas. And long-winged sharks usually appeared at the site of these wrecks first. History knows cases when dozens of people became victims of this type during such disasters.
Also recorded are cases when other sharks attacked people. These are species such as blue, silk, lemon and dark gray sharks. This list also includes hammerhead fish, mako shark and Galapagos shark. These predators are quite large and strong. And if a person is in the wrong place and at the wrong time, then he may be a victim of any of these species. And the rest of the individuals, which are smaller, can also cause quite serious wounds to people. But this is mainly due to deliberate provocations on the part of people.
Most of the shark attacks are attributed to their natural sense of curiosity. Having met an unknown object on their territory, they try to study it. And the only way they can apply for this is a bite. And usually after such a “survey” sharks immediately swim away. They can also mistake a person for fish or seals. This usually happens in troubled waters, and mostly surfers suffer from these errors. But whatever the reasons for the attacks, a person can suffer from them very seriously, especially if they “hit the tooth” with a white or tiger shark.