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‘Worst thing’ you can do if you see a shark is swim away, professional diver reveals
Seeing a shark while swimming in the sea is everyone’s biggest fear, but they’re not as scary as you think – as long as you act correctly.
A marine expert has revealed what not to do if you spot one approaching, and the right procedure to ensure your safety.
‘Worst thing’ to do if you see shark
Andriana Fragola is a professional shark diver who is used to swimming close to all different shark species. She filmed herself swimming with a tiger shark and explained what you should do if you are ever in the same position on TikTok.
If you run into a shark in the middle of the ocean, the expert said the “worst thing” you can do is swim away from it.
“I start to swim away from her and you can see how much interest she has in following me,” she said in a voice over. “As I kick away, she just keeps getting closer and closer and continues following me.”
When you run away in the water, the shark thinks that you are prey, which is what causes them to have more interest in you. Only animals that are scared of being eaten or preyed upon are the ones that will swim away.
Sharks are “opportunistic hunters” which means they will investigate anything as a potential food source. Swimming away will only attract their attention more.
What you should do instead
To avoid looking like food to a shark, the diver said you need to “stand your ground” and “make eye contact” with it. At this point, the shark may just swim away. However, they could be confident and continue moving towards you.
If that happens, you need to place your hand firmly on the top of their head and push the shark away from you.
“It is so important to follow through by continually pushing down on the shark’s head so that you can guide them away from you,” Fragola explained.
You should never have to use this information, because the likelihood of coming into contact with a shark is very slim, but it’s good to know anyway.
In 2023, there were only 120 recorded shark attacks in the entire world, the Florida Museum of Natural Historys�International Shark Attack File�reveals. Of them, only 10 were fatal.
The USA had the most shark attacks at 36. 15 of them were in Florida, eight in Hawaii, four in New York, three in North Carolina, two in California, two in South Carolina and one in New Jersey.
15 of the attacks were in Australia and three were in New Caledonia. 69 of the total worldwide number were unprovoked bites, 22 were provoked and 16 were unconfirmed.
Andriana Fragola is a shark diver and photographer based in Hawaii, where she photograph clients and sharks daily. She has a degree in Environmental Studies from Seton Hall University and a Master’s in Marine Conservation Biology from the University of Miami.
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