When sharks attack

Are those giant predators of the oceans and heroes of horror films maneating sharks back off our coastlines? Maybe they are… Because Jaws has struck again in South Africa: a surfer was eaten by a Great White on “Second Beach”, one of the most dangerous beaches in the world. Sharks are attacking ever more frequently… and creating more and more victims… and it’s the Great White that heads the list of the most dangerous species in the world: 404 attacks… ahead of the Tiger Shark: 157… and the Bull Shark: 121. In fact, it was the latter that was responsible for the death of Mathieu Schiller on Reunion in October. The findings of researchers are worrying because the number of attacks has more than doubled in thirty years. The finger of suspicion is pointing at human activity… and in particular at shark feeding, a tourist attraction that is often indispensible to the local economy.