• TRAHR@quokk.au
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    2 days ago

    Also humans kill far more humans than sharks do, yet we feel safer around humans than in the ocean with a shark.

    • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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      2 days ago

      Well, if we’re ranking species by humans killed, Mosquitos are the Apex Predator of the earth.

      • Vandals_handle@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Mosquitos are a vector for pathogens such as parasites or diseases. The parasites or diseases do the killing, not the mosquitos.

        Edit: pluralize

        • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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          2 days ago

          Being afflicted with venom is also a disease. Disease is a very broad word. Viruses are also not alive.

      • then_three_more@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Yeah but humans do it on purpose a lot of the time.

        Plus I’m not really sure that being a disease carrier makes you an apex predator.

        Oh actually, how many people die from all human to human transmitted illnesses per year?

        • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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          2 days ago

          If a venomous snake bites you and then you die then the snake is what killed you. Mosquitos eat people, man.

          • then_three_more@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            A venomous snake produces venom, a mosquito is just a host for the virus. It gets nothing from killing you. Arguably it’s failed if it kills you as you’re no longer producing blood for it.

    • morto@piefed.social
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      2 days ago

      To be fair, sharks aren’t a risk for us in great part because we don’t share the same habitat. If swimming with them was part of our routine, things would probably be very different

      • tal@lemmy.today
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        1 day ago

        Honestly, humans are a whole lot more dangerous to sharks than sharks are to humans.

        Some sharks are apex predators, but we are the planet’s superpredator.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark_attack

        Out of more than 500 shark species, only three are responsible for a double-digit number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, tiger, and bull.[6]

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shark

        Shark species are increasingly becoming threatened because of commercial and recreational fishing pressures, the impact of non-shark fisheries on the seabed and shark prey species, and other habitat alterations such as damage and loss from coastal development and marine pollution.[6] Rising demands for shark products has increased pressure on shark fisheries, but little monitoring or management occurs of most fisheries.[7] Major declines in shark stocks have been recorded over the past few decades; some species had declined over 90% and population declines of 70% were not unusual by 1998.[8] In particular, harvesting young sharks before they reproduce severely impacts future populations.

        Sharks are caught by humans for shark meat or shark fins. Many shark populations are threatened by human activities. Since 1970, shark populations have been reduced by 71%, mostly from overfishing[8] and mutilating practice such as shark finning.[9][10]

        In 2008, it was estimated that nearly 100 million sharks were being killed by people every year, due to commercial and recreational fishing.[131][132] In 2021, it was estimated that the population of oceanic sharks and rays had dropped by 71% over the previous half-century.[8]

        Sharks are often killed for shark fin soup. Fishermen capture live sharks, fin them, and dump the finless animal back into the water. Shark finning involves removing the fin with a hot metal blade.[132] The resulting immobile shark soon dies from suffocation or predators.[138] Shark fin has become a major trade within black markets all over the world. Fins sell for about $300/lb in 2009.[139]

        The three most-dangerous-to-humans species listed above were the great white, tiger, and bull sharks.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_white_shark

        The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the white shark as a vulnerable species globally and critically endangered regionally in European and Mediterranean waters. Major threats have included accidental catching by commercial fisheries, recreational fishing, and entanglement in protective nets near beaches.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_shark

        Tiger sharks have only one recorded natural predator, the orca.[6] It is considered a near-threatened species because of finning and fishing by humans.[1]

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark

        The bull shark is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List and its population is decreasing. Despite its status, the species isn’t named as a protected species. Threats to the bull shark are numerous, such as getting caught in fishing nets, overfishing for their oil, skin, and meat, pollution to their habitat, and more.

        • morto@piefed.social
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          1 day ago

          I’m not sure it would be possible fo hey, shoo, shoo. Bad shark! Can’t you see I’m replying to a comment? Go, go, shoo

    • FiskFisk33@startrek.website
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      1 day ago

      for comparable numbers we have to control for amount of humans in proximity to sharks vs amount of humans in proximity to humans.

      I mean, id still wager humans win out, but not nearly by as much.

      • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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        21 hours ago

        Thing is, sharks still don’t attack people. For a scene in the Jackass Movie they put a hook in Steve-O and dragged him behind a boat and even then the sharks were avoiding contact. They even bled some fish out around him.

        There are roadside attractions where you swim with sharks.

        Sharks do not identify people as food.

        • FiskFisk33@startrek.website
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          6 hours ago

          Yeah, thats my understanding too. I just think the point would be better made with comparable numbers than with comparing apples to oranges.

    • Klear@piefed.world
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      2 days ago

      So it’s Bears > Men > Sharks in terms of perceived safety. Interesting. I wonder where other animals fit in.