Journal of the sixtysecond day on board

3rd July, 1999

Promptly, I would answer that meeting sharks is wonderful and a spectacle to enjoy, or better it's a blessing. I realize that my point of view is not impartial since I've organized a mission to meet sharks, although I'm risking not finding any of them. (Anyhow I've already had the opportunity to film two of them). Nevertheless going back to the above question "Are sharks dangerous?" I would answer as follows:

"It depends". It depends on where, how and when we meet them and what species we are faced with. We should take many aspects into account but let's consider only some of them.

First of all what kinds of sharks are we talking about? Yes, because just mentioning the word shark is not enough. It's the same as saying "cats" and among felines we can count both household cats and tigers. Anyway the former can at most damage a sofa. What is more among sharks "cats" are more frequent than "tigers". In fact among more than 370 shark species, 80% are centimetres and not metres long. Anyway it's true that even a shark 50 centimetres long can easily tear to pieces a small calf.

The second important aspect to take into account, in order to evaluate how dangerous sharks are, is: what you are doing while the shark is coming? You are probably on a boat, you are swimming, you are underwater, you are fishing, chumming, maybe you can see it or not, is it during the day or at night? Is visibility good or the water cloudy and so on… Each of these factors intuitively modifies the risk level.

Third: where are you at that moment? In which expanse of sea?
It is important to know. An example? In the Bahamas by New Providence Island it is quite easy to reach the females of the Caribbean blue sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) while approaching the males requires more caution because of their aggressiveness.

Fourth, fifth, sixth, and………………………

In conclusion a sharks' world is complex and it is impossible to give general answers probably because it remains so fascinating a world!

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