Shark Attack

Ever since the famous Spielberg movie, many people have developed a deep seeded fear of the sea. Due to negative media attention sharks receive, these animals are viewed as dangerous menaces of the ocean, instead as the amazing creatures they are. New crappie movies such "Spring Break Shark Attacks" (as seen on Professor Topoloski's website) and "Open Water" have caused me to question the legitimacy of my shark fears. It turns out that since 1670 till present, there have been only 754 shark attacks in the United States. With all the hundreds of millions of people that have ventured into the water through out that time, the amount of attacks is relatively small. According to calculations performed by smartpaperz.com, you have a 1 in 300,000,000 chance of getting attacked by a shark. You have a better chance winning the lottery or getting hit by lightning. And even by chance you do get attacked by a shark there is only about a 7 percent chance of dyeing from it. But divers and surfers beware because they make up 84 percent of all shark attacks. With these statistics it is easy to see that shark attacks are not as prevalent as the media makes them seem, but I do not care because they still scare me.