Last Sunday, surfer champ Mick Fanning just survived a shark attack during a surf competition in South Africa on live TV. Fanning was able to escape from the deadly threat of the shark's jaw by punching the wild sea creature and swimming away until he was rescued by a boat.
According to shark expert, Richard Pierce, former chairman of the Shark Trust charity in UK, punching a shark is among the effective survival techniques during a shark attack.
CNN listed down Pirece's advice on how to avoid getting killed by a shark.
First, is to make sure the water you're swimming in is safe from the shark's presence by not getting into river mouths, where "an awful lot of attacks occur," and seas with fishing boats.
"If fishermen are catching fish or struggling with fish in the water, that's one of the prime attractors for a shark," Pierce explained. "So when you've hooked a fish before you've landed it on the boat, the whole time it's struggling in the water it's likely to be emitting fluids, leaking blood and acids ... all the signals that would attract a shark."
Pierce added that shark attacks most likely happen in early morning or late at night. "A lot of shark attacks are cases of mistaken identity due to reduced visibility and identification ability on the behalf of the shark."
When swimming in the water, people can avoid attracting sharks by not peeing or bleeding. So when women menstruate or people have cut themselves at the beach, it's better to stay off water. Blood and urine both indicate the presence of a prey that would invite sea predators.
If ever you get yourself in the middle of a shark attack, Pierce advised to not panic since splashing would encourage a shark's interest to get close. "A shark has got no paws or hands, so if it wants to explore something, the only capability it's got to do that is to put it in its mouth," said Peirce. "That's why we often get exploratory bites which don't result in death and sometimes don't even result in serious injury."
Since sharks are ambush predators, it is best for divers to maintain eye contact and avoid angles that would trigger an attack from the back.
According to Pierce, a punch or a kick in the shark's sensitive parts would push them away. However, it is advised to avoid hitting the nose since its mouth is just underneath. "The gills are very sensitive -- giving a shark a whack in the gills isn't a bad idea."
"If you're a diver with an underwater camera, use it, if you're a snorkeler, rip off your snorkel and use it to poke the shark," Pierce added. "I've had a lot of sharks come at me, and it's (been) enough to use a shark billy -- a small metal rod between two and three feet long -- and I've just given them a little nudge on their nose."
Although shark attacks have been flooding the news lately, Pierce said being attacked by a shark is rare. The odds of being attacked by bull sharks, tiger sharks, or the great whites is one in 11.5 million.
