7 ways to avoid being bit by a shark

AccuWeather

There are a number of ways to reduce the chances of being approached by a shark this summer.

Transcript

00:00 If you head to the beach this summer,

00:02 you may get word from a lifeguard

00:04 that a shark is in the water.

00:06 Shark spotting technology is evolving

00:08 to provide more early warning before

00:10 sharks approach beachgoers. We've

00:11 got people with drones that record

00:13 when sharks are in the area.

00:15 We've got quite a high percentage

00:17 of sharks are tagged and so we can

00:19 see where these individuals are.

00:21 While Florida has the most shark attacks,

00:23 incidents have been recorded throughout

00:25 the country in several other states.

00:27 To reduce the chances of being bit

00:29 by a shark, you should avoid swimming

00:31 alone swimming where fishermen are fishing,

00:34 swimming far from the shore,

00:35 splashing in the water,

00:36 and wearing shiny jewelry.

00:38 Swimming at dawn or dusk can also

00:40 cause a shark to approach you,

00:42 and the reason for this is sharks

00:44 are feeding sometimes where there's

00:46 changes in the environment when it

00:48 goes from dark to light or light to

00:51 dark or when the tides changes and

00:53 the fish that they target for food

00:55 start moving around when they have

00:58 these cues and so you don't want to

01:00 go swimming when the sharks are

01:02 hungry looking for food.

01:04 Naylor says that most sharks do

01:06 not bite humans on purpose.

01:08 Swimming in clear water could help

01:10 you see them before they see you.

01:12 And if sharks were interested

01:14 in targeting people,

01:15 there'd be thousands of shark bites every day.

01:18 They're not.

01:19 Sharks are doing their level

01:21 best to avoid people,

01:23 and we know this because more

01:25 than 60% of the bites are

01:28 by sharks on people happen where

01:30 visibility is low when the sharks

01:32 are more likely to make a mistake.

01:34 They can't see very well,

01:36 so they see something in the water.

01:38 They mistake it for a food item for a fish.

01:42 An oops, it's actually a

01:43 human's foot on a surfboard.

01:45 For Accuweather, I'm Emmy Victor.

01:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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