People may unknowingly swim very close to sharks. The researcher interprets the findings to mean that sharks can tolerate people swimming nearby.
Many sharks spend a lot of time in the waters of beaches that are popular with people, according to a study conducted at the University of Miami.
The study monitored the movements of bull sharks, whisker sharks and hammerheads along the south coast of Florida for several years.
The researchers thought in advance that the sharks would stay away from the beaches favored by people. Transmitters attached to the fish revealed a different story: sharks spent a lot of time in the same waters where humans swim.
Although this may sound unnerving, the findings can also be interpreted as sharks not wanting to bite people, says the researcher Neil Hammerschlag news agency Reuters.
– Sharks really tolerate people and try to avoid them.
Hammerschlag advises swimmers to stay away from places where fishing is taking place. You should also avoid swimming in poor visibility.
In any case, Hammerschlag considers the research results to be worrying, especially for sharks. In busy coastal waters, they are threatened by pollution and fishermen.