Book 6, Question 63
Why Don't Most Sharks Hunt People?
Sharks hunt fish, seals, and other ocean animals. A person has a strange, bony shape and is not what sharks normally eat. Most sharks never bite a person at all, and when a shark does bite by mistake, it usually lets go.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 6
More fun facts
- Most sharks are not dangerous to people, because humans are not part of their natural diet.
- Sharks evolved millions of years before humans existed.
- Most sharks mainly eat smaller fish and animals without backbones.
- Some larger sharks hunt seals, sea lions and other sea mammals.
- A shark hunting a seal acts very differently from one coming near a person, so scientists think sharks do not mix up surfers and seals.
- Sharks may bite to figure out what a strange human shape is, but they rarely bite people to eat them.
Sources: NOAA Ocean Service, National Geographic, Smithsonian
Questions kids ask
Do sharks like to eat people?
No. People are not part of a shark's natural diet, and sharks rarely bite humans to feed.