It's Shark Week: the one week in the summer where the Discovery Channel shows endless specials about the most powerful (and feared) predators in the ocean. While these programs are entertaining and can be educational, it is important to realize that it is television, and it is dramatized and intensified at times to play off emotions, such as fear. There are bound to be specials talking about the "most dangerous" sharks, shark attacks, and related topics. These shows feed off the fear many people have for sharks, and further increase the fear culture in our society. In many cases, increasing people's fear of sharks does more harm than good.

Now, I may be a little biased (as I am a marine science student) when I say that sharks are awesome. They are powerful creatures and should be respected, but not feared. If you're scared to go in the water after Shark Week, here are some things you need to remember (courtesy of National Geographic).

You have a 1 in 11 million chance of being attacked by a shark.

You have a 1 in 63 chance of dying from the flu.

In 1996, sharks injured 13 Americans whereas toilets injured 43,000.

The US averages 1 fatality related to a shark attack every two years.

For every human that is killed by a shark, humans kill 2 million sharks.

You really do not have to worry too much about being attacked by a shark. Furthermore, sharks do not target humans. Typically, in unprovoked attacks, sharks bite once, realize their mistake, and leave (given, a shark bite is pretty bad, but the shark won't bite you because it hunted you down). Sharks do not hunt humans contrary to the belief inspired by movies like Jaws. Scientists believe sharks bite something when they are curious, or mistake people for seals or other animals they actually hunt.

Now, let's talk about that last point in bold. For every human that is killed by a shark, humans kill 2 million sharks. In total, it is estimated that 73 million

sharks are killed each year. These predators have been around for 400 million years, and now humans are driving them to extinction. Sharks are both targeted by fisherman, and caught unintentionally. Asian markets value shark fins for shark fin soup. Where there is a market for shark fins, shark finning is practiced, in which fishermen cut the fins off sharks and leave them to die (Just imagine if someone cut your limbs off and left you to die!). In other places, teeth are considered valuable and are sold as souvenirs. After years of thinking that shark tooth souvenirs are made with teeth found at the bottom of the ocean (some sharks lose up to 30,000 teeth in their lifetime!), I learned that sharks are actually killed for their teeth to make most souvenirs. Many sharks are also caught as bycatch, meaning they get tangled in fishing lines, even when fishermen are not targeting them. The increased fear of sharks in society has led to killing sharks in populated areas. Australia, for example, had a shark cull

that lasted for a few weeks in 2014 which led to the government catching almost 200 sharks and killing 50. Events like this are unacceptable. Sharks, as apex predators, are key in preserving balance in ocean ecosystems.

So, as you watch Shark Week, keep in mind that sharks should not be feared, but respected. These creatures are important to the balance of our oceans. It is up to us to change the culture and make sure sharks are not getting needlessly killed.