- Published
"I knew something was different because the sharks were on the surface," says Tayane Dalazen, a 37-year old Brazilian lawyer and social media personality.
asserted
Dalazen → know → surface
"There were a lot of them," she says.
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she → be → them
"Later, I discovered [the tour organisers] were feeding the sharks so that they would interact with the tourists."
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they → discover → tourists
Dalazen, from Sao Paulo, was on a shark-diving trip on the Brazilian coast in April when she suddenly felt "strong pressure" on her leg.
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she → feel → leg
"When the shark bit me, the pain was very strong," she says.
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she → bite → me
"I stayed calm because I knew I couldn't fight the animal."
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I → stay → animal
A nurse shark, more than seven feet (two metres) long, had clamped its jaws around her thigh.
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shark → clamp → thigh
After holding her underwater for several seconds, the shark released her and she was able to escape.
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she → hold → her
But Dalazen says the experience, which left her with lacerations to her thigh, was "very frightening".
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which → say → thigh
Dalazen posted footage of the shark bite online, where it's since been viewed tens of millions of times.
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it → post → times
Although she says she "wasn't there for social media" and didn't touch or provoke the shark, she admits she was too close to the animals.
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she → say → animals
Incidents of sharks biting humans are incredibly rare, but at least three influencers have been bitten by the animals in less than a year.
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influencers → bite → year
Scientists say they're increasingly concerned about the rise in social media videos showing people swimming too close to sharks, touching or even riding them.
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people → say → them
"I'm seeing these videos every single week now and it's way more than it ever used to be," says shark scientist Kristian Parton, who also hosts the 'Shark Bytes' YouTube channel.
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who → see → channel
"We're going to see people ending up in really serious incidents with sharks."
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people → go → sharks
In July, a fishing influencer almost lost his leg after being attacked by a reef shark whilst spearfishing.
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influencer → lose → shark
In December, a Chinese content creator was bitten in the Maldives.
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creator → bite → Maldives
Both incidents were caught on camera.
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incidents → catch → camera
Researchers at the International Shark Attack File, which tracks human-shark interactions worldwide, have also told the BBC they've seen a marked increase in the past three years of people being bitten while trying to take footage with sharks.
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people → track → sharks
A recent study of "swim with wildlife" expeditions, external found influencers and photographers were the most likely to ignore safety instructions.
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influencers → swim → instructions
In February last year, a tourist in the Caribbean had both hands bitten off while trying to get a photograph of a bull shark from the shallows, according to local authorities.
uncertain
hands → bite → authorities
Two months later, a snorkeller in Israel carrying a "selfie stick" was killed by sharks, reportedly while trying to get photographs.
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snorkeller → carry → photographs
The risk of being bitten by a shark remains extremely low: the number of unprovoked shark attacks worldwide has remained broadly stable for the past 30 years, at about 70 bites per year.
While Tayane Dalazen was bitten by a nurse shark - known as a more docile species - some influencers have been filmed touching tiger sharks and even great whites.
"We're talking about a true apex predator, a very large wild animal," says Parton.
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Parton → bite → predator
"You wouldn't walk into the Serengeti and try and put your hand on the face of a lion.
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You → walk → lion
"
Sharks will often use defensive or "exploratory" bites when presented by an unwelcome human in their personal space, he adds.
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he → use → space
Human interactions can also cause stress to the animals.
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interactions → cause → animals
Scientific studies have shown that approaching or touching a shark leads to high levels of hormones called glucocorticoids.
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approaching → show → hormones
These can lead to a weakened immune system, increased mortality and aborted offspring.
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These → lead → system
"If you're approaching the shark and stressing it out, whether it be in a nursery habitat, a breeding ground, or a feeding area, you're depriving that shark of an area that's important to it to survive," explains Parton, "and that's definitely a problem."
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that → approach → it
One of the best-known shark content creators is Ocean Ramsey, a 38-year-old former model who shot to fame in 2019 after she was pictured swimming with one of the largest great white sharks ever seen.
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she → know → sharks
She often posts footage of her touching sharks and holding their dorsal fins.
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her → post → fins
She spoke to the BBC from a boat in Hawaii, where she runs "Dive with Ocean" shark tours for paying customers.
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she → speak → customers
"My intent with all of my content has never been to gain views, it's to gain protection for sharks," Ramsey says.
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Ramsey → gain → sharks
"I've contributed to research articles, data collection...
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I → contribute → articles
all of my work stems down to education."
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all → stem → education
She denies that getting close to the sharks and touching them causes harm: "Most of my work and what I share is respecting and observing from a distance," she says.
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she → deny → distance
I observe their behaviour and they choose to interact with me.
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they → observe → me
They always make the first approach."
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They → make → approach
What about claims by scientists that videos showing sharks being touched encourage others to take risks and do the same?
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sharks → show → same
"You've got to give the general public some accountability," Ramsey insists.
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Ramsey → get → accountability
…and 13 more, not listed.
