Don’t Let the Presence of Sharks Drive You From the Water
If you step foot into the water off of Southern California, there’s likely a great white shark next to you.
That may sound like an exaggeration, but recent research suggests that it isn’t. A study that was published this summer used drone footage to monitor the presence of sharks among humans in the water. They found that 97 percent of the time, people were swimming alongside a great white shark. Granted, these great whites were frequently juveniles, but that is little comfort when considering juvenile great whites are typically eight to ten feet long.
“The findings also revealed that sharks are swimming a lot closer to the beach than previously thought—instead of miles out, they may be within 50 to 100 yards of where the waves break, or even closer,” noted Smithsonian Magazine.
While this research was contained to Southern California, beachgoers across the country are being made aware of the near presence of sharks. My family and I enjoy heading to Pensacola, Florida when we need a quiet ocean weekend without too long of a drive. I was swimming in the waters off of Pensacola a couple of weeks ago; days later, two different, massive sharks (a mako and a hammerhead) washed ashore there.
What does any of this have to do with environmentalism aside from sharks and the ocean being part of the environment? Simple. The best way to protect something is to love it, and fear tends to kill (or at least reduce) that love.
To put it another way, to protect the ocean (or any other part of our world) as best we can, our love for it has to be a higher priority than our fear about what it contains or may cause.
A lot of folks are already firmly rooted in anxiety, and the above news coming out will drive them further into that mindset. According to Psychology Today, “51 percent of Americans admit they are scared of sharks and 38 percent of Americans told an IPSOS survey they are so terrified of selachimorpha (the scientific term for the shark family) that they won’t even go in the water.”
But its not just sharks driving people away from the ocean—sometimes its the ocean itself. Thalassophobia is a persistent and intense fear of deep water such as that found in the ocean. There is no good survey data on how many people this phobia impacts, but professionals estimate that 7 to 9 percent of people in the United States are living with hyperspecific phobias.
To be completely fair, extreme phobias are not the same as general ‘what-if’ anxiety. Folks with such extreme fear would be better served by seeking professional help instead of tearing themselves apart to try and not be terrified of stepping foot in the ocean.
But I can talk to the ‘what-if’ folks because I am one. I have struggled with anxiety about deep dark water and ocean creatures from the moment I started talking (literally—the ‘O’ on my toddler letter puzzle was an octopus and I found that deeply troubling). But if there is one thing I have learned, it is that when I let curiosity and affection outweigh the ‘what-ifs,’ I become that much more passionate.
Taking boats out over extremely deep water has allowed me to see animals that live there, growing my affection for them and lessening my fear of the water they’re living in.
Swimming farther from shore every time I am at the beach helps strengthen the mental muscles that remind me shark attacks are infrequent and that sharks need more protection from humans than we do from them.
Spending more time on, around, and in saltwater helped me to respect it and to see the impact humans have on the ocean, for good or for bad.
I firmly believe in two things when it comes to advocacy: Individuals can change the world, and that they best do that by being passionate about the things they want to change. But many of us are being held back by fear that hinders that passion.
Maybe that’s you. Maybe you want to advocate for the environment but there’s something holding you back. And it doesn’t even have to be about the ocean—maybe you need to face a fear of wilderness by going on a hike or be willing to face your emotions when learning about the plight of a suffering species.
But maybe you’re in the same place I was, and your fear of the sharks (or symbolic sharks) in the water keeps your feet firmly planted on the beach. I would encourage you to take steps forward that put your love for our planet above your fear of it.
Take a boat out and realize that deep, dark water is made better by the beautiful things that you can only see in those places.
Support a shark conservation group and learn about the impact humans are having on them.
Wade in the ocean. Next time, go deeper.
Individuals can’t change the world if we’re tethered to our fear. It’s time to stop letting the presence of sharks drive us from the water.