Are Reef Sharks Dangerous? Reef Shark Fatalities Data
To swim with sharks means something different wherever you travel. In the Bahamas you might be swimming with tiger sharks, or bull sharks if you go to Fiji. These sharks are known to be aggressive and dangerous, which means swimmers may want to avoid them. But if you’re looking to snorkelling on the world’s best reefs, the chances are you will encounter sharks as well.
Reef sharks.
With shark in the name, it’s easy to assume these predators are also worth steering clear of, but when you’re out in the middle of the ocean, you’ve got little chance of escape if you come face-to-face with a reef shark. Reef sharks inhabit most all the world’s reefs in great abundance, so does that mean you shouldn’t go snorkelling on reefs?
Are Reef Sharks Dangerous?
Reef sharks are not considered dangerous. There are five types of reef shark: blacktip reef shark, grey reef shark, Caribbean reef shark, silvertip reef shark & whitetip reef shark. Since records began hundreds of years ago, there have only been 24 attacks on humans across all species.
While 24 is not zero, it’s important to remember this is across millions of sharks. People come into contact with reef sharks daily on dives and snorkels -- thousands of encounters every year.
Reef Shark Fatalities
There are no recorded human fatalities from reef shark attack. While 24 people have been attacked by reef sharks since records began, they have all survived. Curious and aggressive around food, reef sharks may bite, but they are not known to kill.
Can Reef Sharks Kill Humans?
Reef sharks are often the top predators on a reef. They can grow up to 2m-3m long and have jaws lined with vicious teeth. Reef sharks are capable of shredding meat from bone and could kill a person in the water if they wanted to. However, since the records began, they never have.
Why?
Why Don’t Reef Sharks Eat People?
Reef sharks are known as vacuums of the sea. They swim around hoovering up small fish, crustaceans and squid. Nothing much larger than that.
A good way to consider a reef shark is to think of them like the foxes of the ocean. They’ve got a nasty bite on them, and technically yes, they could do enough damage to kill you, but they never would.
The simple fact is that we are not on their food chain. We’re large and bulky animals far beyond their diet. They target small prey. All sharks avoid confrontation with larger animals because they risk harm and death in fights. Sharks, for all their agility and power, have numerous weaknesses, including their eyes, gills and sensory systems. Even great white sharks will back away from a fight, preferring ambush tactics. Given that reef sharks are smaller and far more delicate, it’s obvious why they wouldn’t try to match an animal over twice their weight.
Don’t Get Complacent Around Reef Sharks
24 attacks is 24 attacks. A bite in the wrong place at the wrong time could be very dangerous. Attacks by sharks tend to be provoked, and if they aren’t, are often because of extenuating circumstances. It’s very, very rare for a reef shark attack to occur if you’ve taken the right precautions.
But what are these precautions?
Avoid Swimming a Dawn and Dusk -- Reef sharks are ambush predators who hunt during low light. This means they’re most active and aggressive during dawn and dusk. If you’re in the water at these times, you increase your chance of getting bitten by a reef shark.
Stay Calm in the Water -- Sharks respond to erratic movement. It can mimic prey in trouble or aggressive behaviour of an animal that poses a threat. Calm and gentle movement in the water won’t risk a response from reef sharks.
Avoid Low Visibility Swimming -- Reef sharks, like all sharks, hunt using both their eyesight and their ability to sense electrical pulses in the water. In low visibility, they rely entirely on their sense of electrical pulses. The problem is, many animals give off similar electrical pulses, which means they can’t tell you from a fish if they can’t see you. Swimming in clear waters means they’ll know you aren’t on their menu.
Keep Your Distance -- Corner a shark, make it feel vulnerable, or agitate it by coming into close contact and it might react to defend itself. Stay away from the animal, be respectful, and you’re unlikely to have problems with reef sharks.
Ancient and deadly predators, reef sharks can be dangerous. But, their history and behaviour towards humans makes it clear that we really do have nothing to fear from these animals.
