We’ve all been there. Sitting in a dark cinema, chomping down on popcorn, holding our breath, waiting to see who the giant shark is going to attack next…

Da dum, da dum, da dum …

But how realistic are these portrayals of shark attacks really? How much of what we see is fact and how much is fiction? On this list are 10 movies with shark attack scenes reviewed by shark scientists:

Melissa Cristina Marquez – marine biologist, shark scientist, science communicator, tv presenter and author. She received her BS in Marine Ecology and Conservation from New College of Florida, where her senior thesis focused on Sex Specific Differences in Habitat use and Migratory behavior shown in great white sharks in South Africa. She then went on to receive her MA in Marine Biology and PHD in Environment and Agriculture.

Apryl Boyle – speaker and educator on shark advocacy and marine/environmental sciences. As a trusted marine and shark researcher, she is regularly called upon to give press interviews. With Masters in Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Pharmacology and Biochemistry, she is one smart lady!

10 Facts That Will Change How You View Sharks

10 Jaws (1975)

“I looooove the iconic Jaws music. The build-up of the music amazing. You’re just sitting there waiting, when’s it going to happen, when’s it going to happen …. Aaaawww, there’s the big boy!” enthuses Marquez.

The first thing she points out in the shark attack scene above is Bruce’s perfect counter camouflage, referring to the coloring of Great White sharks: darker on top and lighter on the bottom. Looking at a shark from above, the darker color blends in with the dark water, while looking at the shark from below looks like sunlight trickling down. This camouflage is perfect for the shark’s stealth approach when it comes to hunting.

While sharks sometimes do ram cages, especially if the bait is pulled too close to the cage, Marquez insists they hardly do it intentionally. Sharks cannot swim backwards so once they are in motion and confronted by a cage, they often don’t have any other option. While she is not all that impressed by the animatronics used to create Bruce, Marquez does agree that the cage is spot on. Even now in 2020, the structure of these cages has not changed much.

Interestingly, Peter Benchley apparently regrets writing Jaws and spent many years working in shark conservation to right the wrong.

9 Baywatch (1989)

“They definitely had a lot of fun filming this! The entire thing is a homage to Jaws,” comments Boyle.
“I can’t imagine a life guard getting into the water when the boat is right there and can get to them so much faster,” she continues.

First responders are trained not to endanger themselves in the process of saving someone else. It’s hard to imagine any situation where the life guard would jump into the water and try to drag someone away from a shark, rather than getting into the boat and safely steering away from it.
“This movie is a giant love letter to Jaws. Over-the-top absurd, probably a really fun shoot to do,” she concludes.

8 Deep Blue Sea (1999)

“If anything is going to be unrealistic about this movie, it’s going to be the scientific results coming out that quickly,” says Marquez.

But while they may not be as fancy, high-tech and under water as depicted in the movie, there are quite a few shark labs around the world. They are mostly used for medical research (blood, hemoglobin and skin tissues are harvested to study the shark’s immune system for example) and bio inspiration (using what scientists find in nature in other parts of life such as wet suits and plane wings). But as this list is about shark attacks, let’s get back to the blood and guts.

In the clip above, one of the scientists loses his arm when the shark jumps up at him from within the tank. Although appreciative of the realistic-looking shark prop used to film the movie, Marquez points out the that the shark would need a lot more space to propel itself out of the water like that. In such a tight enclosure, it’s very unlikely that it would be able to build up enough thrust.

7 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003)

“You probably have a better chance of contracting an infection than you have of attracting a shark,” remarks Marquez, referring to Lara cutting herself in order to lure a shark with the scent of her blood in the water.

Also, sharks don’t make noises. Except for Dog Sharks that make a barking sound when taken out of the water. “That sounded more cat-like than shark-like,” Marquez laughs.

Punching the shark could actually be a great way to deter them, but if you’ve ever tried punching something or someone under water, you will know from experience that being under water causes some drag. It probably also isn’t that wise to punch it on the nose either. It just increases your chances of ending up with your arm down its throat. Should you ever need to punch a shark, Marquez suggests aiming for an eye, or even better, the gills. Much like sucker punching someone in the lungs, this will take the shark’s breath away and encourage it to leave you alone.

“Just as well she’s wearing gloves,” Marquez wraps up. Sharkskin is very similar to sand paper and rubbing up against it would definitely leave Lara suffering from shark burn.

6 Finding Nemo (2003)

“Fish are friends, not food… I can’t tell you how many kids have said that to me,” says Boyle.

By showing a slightly softer, more “humanized” version of sharks, Boyle believes that Finding Nemo has given many kids a less scary introduction to these predators. She feels that this has gone a long way toward encouraging modern day conservational efforts.

And sharks do indeed have fish friends. Specifically, Pilot and Remora fish have very symbiotic relationships with sharks. But as far as the trickle of blood sending Bruce (another nod to Jaws, perhaps?) into a feeding frenzy, Boyle once again points out that this simply is not realistic. While it’s true that sharks can indeed pick up a few drops of blood in an Olympic-size swimming pool, most sharks are picky eaters. “Imagine how easy my research would be if this were true!” she concludes.

Top 10 Incredible Sharks

5 Open Water (2003)

“I am literally getting chills.”

According to Boyle, Open Water is the scariest shark movie out there. It is based on the true story of two divers getting left behind on a dive and speculates on what they must have gone through as they were never found. “Being left behind is literally the worst thing that could happen to any diver. That is the most frightening part of this movie,” Boyle says.

The second scariest, she continues, is the fact that the little shark bite is actually very realistic and highly feasible. Boyle herself has witnessed sharks taking a nibble of something and, realizing that it’s not their food, swimming away.

“This is totally realistic and very, very frightening.”

4 Couples Retreat (2009)

“Why are people always surprised that there are sharks in the ocean? … You’re throwing dead animals into the ocean. What did you think was going to happen?” muses Marquez.

Chumming, the use of fish blood and guts to attract sharks, is often employed by scientists in order to study these mysterious creatures. It should never be used for recreational purposes though, because, guess what, you’re probably going to get bitten by a shark.

While Marquez questions Marcel’s identification of the sharks as Lemon Sharks, she does agree with his advice. Keep calm. Don’t panic. Slowly swim away from the chum.

3 The Shallows (2016)

“The shark depicted in this movie is supposed to be a Great White shark. They are very picky eaters. I have witnessed myself some of them taking a bite of something and spitting it out,” remarks Boyle. “And so, the notion that it would fight so hard for a morsel that is not their usual calorie-dense food, is rather far-fetched.”

For sharks in the wild, survival is all about eating calorie-dense food such as seals and sea lions. These animals, unlike humans, have blubber that is far more calorie-dense than human fat. The energy expended in this scene by the shark jumping out of the water, out on the rocks and hurting itself, is just not worth the pay-off it would get from eating poor, slender Blake.

2 The Meg (2018)

“Megalodon is a very, very, very extinct shark …” laughs Marquez.

This giant shark that a lot of people have likened to a Great White, has not been in our oceans for many years. Understandably, though, there is still a giant fascination with this creature. “I promise you though, there is no shark big enough to get such a massive anchor stuck to itself and pull such a big boat with that many people,” Marquez says.

Referring to the utter chaos and panic that ensues in the beach attack scene above, Marquez shares some safety tips should you ever find yourself in shark-infested waters:

1. Always swim with a buddy who can help keep an eye out for sharks.
2. Also make sure you don’t draw more attention to yourself by splashing in the water like a wounded animal.
3. And remember, it’s not the shark you see that’s the problem. It’s the one you don’t see!

The biggest shark recorded in modern history is the whale shark. They tend to grow to a length of about 40 feet, or 12 meters. But even these bad boys are unlikely to approach that many people. Most shark species are quite shy and tend to conserve their energy for prey with more blubber.

1 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)

“While there are some freshwater shark species, they definitely don’t look like this,” says Marquez, referring to the cut and paste, Frankenstein-zombie-looking creature in the clip above. It doesn’t look like any shark species she knows. It also seems to be blind which she has not encountered often. At least it has 5 gill slits which, according to Marquez, is anatomically correct.

Even though it may seem unrealistic that there would be so many sharks in a cave, who knows? A couple of years ago a shark was discovered in an erupted volcano so it could be possible. In the movie the sharks are shown circling the trapped divers in the cave, just like sharks in real life would do. They do this to check out potential prey, sizing it up and deciding whether it’s a meal or not. But as these sharks are blind, what the heck are they doing?

Top 10 Fascinating Facts And Stories About Sharks

A man is considered lucky when something good happens to him by chance. On a daily basis, someone, somewhere, will get lucky. This includes escaping death, dismissal from work, automobile accidents, heartbreaks, bankruptcy, among others. In all of these categories of escapees is a very small group of people we find exceptionally lucky—those who narrowly escaped death by a shark attack.

It is estimated that there are about 400 to 500 species of sharks in the world’s oceans. While sharks are top predators of the oceans and can be very dangerous, they rarely become aggressive toward humans—only about 12 species have been known to attack people. However, they have caused some deaths and given other people permanent scars and disabilities, but they are not the man killers of myth and Hollywood. Over the past five years, the average number of unprovoked shark attacks per year is 80, but 2020 only saw 57 attacks, with only ten of those proving fatal.

However, an encounter with a shark is one that can never be forgotten if the victim manages to live through the experience. When a person escapes a shark attack, it calls for celebration. This is a list of ten people who narrowly escaped death by a shark attack.

Related: Top 10 Times Animals Held Grudges Against Humans And Took Revenge

10 Saved by a Drone

Matt Wilkinson is a professional surfer who was paddling on his board near Sharpes Beach in Australia in 2020. Unknown to him, a shark was trailing him. He heard a splash in the water beneath his feet but continued surfing when he looked around and saw nothing. Luckily for him, a drone operator, Beau Monks, was using a drone to survey the water when he sighted the shark.

Monks quickly broadcasted a warning to Wilkinson that a shark was on the loose and too close to him for comfort. He asked Matt to head for the beach, and he did. Matt didn’t realize how close he was to the shark until he returned to the beach and saw the video footage. The shark was about to attack Matt on the leg when it may have been distracted by the noise from the drone. But for the drone operator, Matt Wilkinson could have possibly lost his life that day.^[1]

By the way, 18 of those 57 unprovoked attacks in 2020 occurred in Australia! The second most of any country on the list.

9 Spearfishing Surprise

In 2019, Jonathan Hernandez, a professional boat captain and fisherman from Florida, was spearfishing with friends off Abaco Island in the Bahamas when he was attacked by a shark. The effect of the attack made him think that the fishing boat had run him over. Hernandez was bitten on the left calf but managed to swim to safety before the shark could do more harm to him. Luckily, he and his friends managed to tourniquet the wound within about 60 to 90 seconds of the attack, preventing further blood loss.

Hernandez notes the attack was likely the result of the increase in tourist-driven local shark feeding businesses, which allow sharks to be fed by humans. This, in turn, has let the sharks in the area associate humans with food. The shark that attacked Hernandez was out to feed, and his story could have ended in total tragedy had he been at sea alone that day without anyone to help. His attack happened just days before a young college student was also killed by a shark while snorkeling in the Bahamas.^[2]

8 Missed Me by a…Foot

In 2019, a 19-year old student named Austin Reed narrowly escaped a shark attack when he was surfing with his brothers and friends at about 2 pm at Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina. The shark grabbed Reed’s foot and pulled. By the time Reed managed to pull his foot out, it looked as if a knife had cut across the left and right side of it.

Reed was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington where he underwent surgery for the injury he suffered.^[3]

Oh, the United States had the most unprovoked attacks in 2020—coming in at 33. However, only three of those resulted in death. While the U.S. topped the list in overall attacks, Australia was number one in deadly attacks: they had 6 in 2020.

7 Fight Off a Shark, Take Selfie.

Braxton Rocha, a 27-year-old spear fisherman, was swimming about 60 yards off the coast of Hawaii’s Big Island when he was attacked by a tiger shark in 2015. Rocha told reporters that the tiger shark had his leg in its jaw at one point during the attack. His instinct kicked in, and he started to fight the shark. Luckily, the shark let go of his leg after he punched it on the head. Rocha managed to swim back to safety with his leg almost torn off his body. He was later assisted by a friend and fellow fisherman, Shannon Pasco, who got him into an ambulance.

Rocha ended up taking selfies and videos of his injury which he uploaded on Youtube and Instagram. He underwent a three-hour surgery and it took 100 staples to close his wounds.^[4]

6 Really…in the Middle of a Competition

Mick Fanning, a three-time world surfing champion, managed to win the battle for his life when he tangled with a shark while surfing. Aside from being a surfing legend, Fanning accomplished a new feat when he fought off a shark attack in the middle of a competition in South Africa. He was a finalist in the J-Bay Open Competition when the shark struck, and the incident was captured on television. Fanning was waiting for his first wave of the final when a fin surfaced behind him.

Fanning did not notice the shark in time. When he did, he padded away, but it was too late as the animal had already noticed him and was soon in pursuit. The shark collided with his surfboard, which made him lose balance and drop into the water. Fanning was able to chase it off by punching it on its back, avoiding injury. Rescue boats located nearby quickly intervened, and Fanning was ferried to safety. The most dramatic element of this near-death encounter is that Fanning’s mother watched the whole incident unfold on television. At one point, she feared that her son would not make it out of the ocean alive.^[5]

This attack occurred in 2015, and coincidentally, Matt Wilkinson was also competing in this competition.

5 Overboard for 28 Hours

Brett Archibald fell overboard during a surfing trip to Indonesia in 2013. He fell at night, and as it was dark, no one saw him go into the water. Archibald initially thought the end had come, but that was not to be. He managed to stay afloat for 28 hours.

Trouble began for Brett when he experienced a case of food poisoning mixed with seasickness from the choppy waters. He woke up in the middle of the night and started throwing up. He then went to the railing of the boat to continue vomiting, and the next thing he noticed was that he had fallen overboard. While he was in the water, he got bumped by seagulls and a shark. He was lucky that the shark thought he was a distasteful meal; it turned away without harming him. After 28-hours of agony, he was spotted by an Australian skipper, one of many boats searching for Archibald, taking him for medical treatment after being rescued.^[6]

4 Face-to-Face with a Great White

Rodney Fox, a respected filmmaker and conservationist, cheated death at the age of 23. He was attacked by a great white shark while competing in the South Australia Spearfishing Championship at Aldinga Beach, South of Adelaide, on December 8, 1963. During the encounter with the great white shark, Rodney made several unsuccessful attempts to subdue the animal, including an attempt to gouge out its eyes. Fox’s hand was also badly damaged when it went into the shark’s mouth as he tried to push it away.

At one point, the shark succeeded in pulling him toward the bottom of the ocean, but Fox was lucky to escape before it could kill him. His injuries were so bad that he needed 462 stitches to close them up. His ribs were shattered, his diaphragm was punctured, and his lungs were ripped open. For many people, the attack would be the excuse they needed to give up on ocean diving, and the world would have pardoned Fox if he did so. However, the attack made him dedicate sixty years of his life to protecting sharks.^[7]

3 Man Fights Off Shark to Save Partner’s Life

On a Saturday morning in August 2020, Chantelle Doyle, an environmental scientist, was up early to work on her Ph.D. She was staying with her partner Mark Rapley and their three-year-old son, Hamilton, at her parents’ place near the beaches of Port Macquarie, New South Wales. She and her partner decided to go surf and get some fresh air that day. They were both surfing at Shelly Beach when a 10-foot great white shark attacked her, causing severe lacerations to her right leg.

Rapley’s reaction made news bulletins across the country and parts of the globe. Seeing his partner in trouble, he paddled frantically toward her, jumped on her back, and rained punches down on the animal’s head and near its eye until it let go and slipped away. Other people who were surfing nearby also joined in the rescue. Like Rodney Fox, Doyle and Rapley have started working toward better understanding and conservation of this much-feared creature.^[8]

2 Punching for Survival

In a narrow escape encounter, Dylan Nacass managed to punch his way to survival during a shark attack while surfing at Bells Beach in Australia in 2020. Upon noticing the shark, Nacass tried to surf as fast as he could, but the animal tracked him, gave chase, and latched onto his leg. Nacass responded to the attack by punching the predator twice.

A local man named Matt Sedunary noticed the struggle and moved in to save Nacass. At first, Sedunary thought that Nacass was joking with his friends when he heard him screaming. Then, Sedunary went to investigate the cause of the screaming and saw a fin. At that moment, it dawned on him that Dylan was under attack by a shark.^[9]

1 13-Year-Old Shark Attack Survivor

In 2018, Keane Webre-Hayes managed to survive a great white shark attack at the age of thirteen. He is one of the youngest shark attack survivors we know today. He was looking for lobsters in Leucadia, California, just north of San Diego, when he was attacked by the animal. Luckily for him, three men who were in a kayak nearby helped him get to the shore.

He was immediately airlifted to a hospital, where he underwent surgery. The teenager expressed his willingness to return to the ocean immediately after he suffered the attack, but he didn’t get his chance until nine months later. He returned to the ocean in spectacular fashion, spearfishing in deep ocean water.^[10]

Since 2009, ABC’s Shark Tank has given hopeful entrepreneurs a shot at landing the venture capitalist backing of their dreams. The “sharks,” or investors, have essentially been the same throughout the show’s entire run, and to say they’ve “seen it all” is an understatement. They’ve backed products that have turned out to be wildly successful post-production, like the Scrub Daddy.

The sharks have missed opportunities to invest in products that have become successful, like the Ring Doorbell. And, of course, they’ve seen some pretty dumb products, too—like the 10 we’re about to jump into.

Here are 10 of the dumbest products on Shark Tank.

Related: 10 Inventions That People Really Regretted Inventing

10 Morninghead (Not as Exciting as It Sounds)

What is a scam? In this case, it would be a product that is entirely ordinary, more straightforward than a DIY project, and can make a lot of money off unsuspecting consumers. It’s essentially a dumb idea with good marketing behind it.

Morninghead is that perfect scam. It was developed as a solution for people who wake up with bedhead but who are too lazy to take a shower and wash their hair. It doesn’t use dry shampoo; it isn’t a special brush or comb. It is a shower cap that you pour water into.

After pouring water into the shower cap, you put the shower cap on your head and agitate it with your hands. Miraculously, your hair is damp when you take the shower cap off! Not clean, just damp. This anytime, anywhere bedhead antidote not only incited laughter from the sharks but also left the entrepreneur empty-handed.

If only Morninghead was more promising than it sounds.

9Sticky Note Holder

The demand in homes and traditional offices for organizational tools will always be around, and some manufacturer or entrepreneur will be there to answer the call.

The problem is that computer technology has virtually eliminated the need for sticky notes, so looking at this particular presentation is a bit painful. It’s not so much that the entrepreneur’s product is dumb—she just had a stupid idea for a pitch. (Okay, and the product itself is a little dumb.)

Mary Ellen Simonsen created a “sticky pad” for sticky notes that attaches to the side of the computer monitor. She showed how it worked by sticking what looks like a cardboard pad to the side of a home laptop screen; not a very good showcase. She asked for a million-dollar investment and claimed that each holder would sell for $9.50. When asked by the sharks how she knew that people would pay this price for it, she replied, “I conducted surveys.”

Additionally, after revealing that she doesn’t have a patent for the product, one shark, Daymond John, summed up the problem with Mary Ellen’s product perfectly: “I wouldn’t waste your money or time on the patent. I think no sales, a useless idea–I’m totally out.”

8Licki Brush

This product is pretty dumb, but it’s also pretty genius. If it weren’t for the fact that these guys were serious about making money off of it, we could call them the biggest trolls of the pet grooming industry ever.

The entrepreneurial duo’s company, PDX Pet Design, is all for grooming your cat. Tara, the company’s co-founder, begins the sales pitch with some anecdotal claims about how cats may view humans as big cats—not a different species. Tara then presents the problem her product solves, “So why should you be left out of their intimate bonding ritual?”

Red flag right there.

Tara’s husband and the other half of the company, Jason, brings out a cat. Tara brings out a big, silicone-spikey tongue. This isn’t a setup for The Aristocrats. Okay, so what’s this weird tongue lookin’ thing doing near this cat? Oh no, you mean to tell me… “You’re not going to put that in your mouth, are you?” Oh, yes. Tara puts the tongue brush in her mouth and then licks the cat “just like a momma cat licks her young.”

The reaction from the sharks is priceless. Tara reassures them that she is not joking; this is a serious product. And guess what, you can still buy them today!

7No Fly Cone

One entrepreneur named Bruce, driven by the fact that flies haunt his office (his barn), presented to the sharks the No Fly Cone, a cone-shaped fly trap that you place over a dog poop scooper. In an attempt to boost the product’s viability, Seth MacFarlane comes walking out and acts as a “spokesperson” for the product. (Seth takes horseback riding lessons from Bruce.) Unfortunately, Seth doesn’t live in a barn, nor does he have a dog. Flies aren’t an issue for him.

So is the product dumb for the majority of people? Yeah, kind of, seeing as the pitch states that you need to have residual dog poop for this to work properly. But, if you, too, worked in a barn and wanted to round up some flies, this could be the perfect thing for you!

6Fish FrenZ

Let’s see what Shark Tank Australia is doing! Lourens Badenhorst, that’s what.

Lourens backed himself into a corner with his pitch. His invention could have potentially served fishers well; it’s a container that releases bait as it floats in the water current. But he really took the product’s usefulness out of the spotlight when he decided to drop the “it’s good for women” marketing trick.

As a fishing tool to give women the “competitive edge” in fishing, the product is pretty dumb. Janine and Naomi, the two women serving as sharks on the show, ask him repeatedly why the product is good for women. Even the rest of the sharks want to know, “Is this only for female fisherpeople or male fisherpeople?” Lourens says, “no,” and repeats that the percentage of women fisherpeople are looking for the edge. Then when Janine asks if men want the edge, Lourens says no, because men know everything about fishing, which implies that women do not.

That aside, Lourens hasn’t sold any of his Fish Frenz bait release containers, and his pitch sucked. He left without a backer. Guess you don’t know how to hook a shark; why don’t you go home and feed your goldfish, Lourens?

5UroClub

Guys, have you ever been on the golf course and really needed to pee? Well, don’t worry if there are no trees or bushes in sight because this guy has got a whole new solution to your urination problems. It’s the UroClub!

The UroClub is designed to look like a seven iron, but it is a pee receptacle. Attach the privacy towel to the front, open the UroClub near the handle, put your bro in the hole and let it fly. The design isn’t half bad, and the idea behind it is well-meaning and good, but it’s not very practical. Obviously, you’re not golfing under that privacy towel, and because we need to look at the lead and audience potential for the product, it’s not a unisex solution.

For that, it ends up on the dumb list.

4BareEASE

I wish I didn’t have to put a woman on this list after that Lourens pitch, but I don’t like this product. The entrepreneurial mind behind it is Dr. Edna Ma, an anesthesiologist. BareEASE is a numbing kit that people use in preparation for bikini waxing. The user puts on a pair of BareEASE underwear (complete with the numbing cream) about an hour before the bikini area grooming appointment happens, whether it’s laser or wax.

The sharks had mixed feelings about the product and ultimately turned Dr. Ma away, citing not enough sales, too much competition, etc.

But I don’t have mixed feelings about it. I wouldn’t want to wear underwear that numbs my naughty bits, not for a bikini wax. Then again, I have zero interest in getting a bikini wax.

3 I Want to Draw a Cat For You

Someone hand me BareEASE to numb the pain I have in my head – because I don’t understand how the I Want to Draw a Cat for You guy is making money off of this, and I’m still struggling to pay the rent with my 9-5 job.

Steve is a quirky entrepreneur with an idea that doesn’t make any sense—and yet it works. People send him specifications for a custom-drawn cat, and Steve draws it and sends it back. That’s the entire concept. These aren’t even fine art cats—these are like NFT garbage cats. Ironically, they’re cool? But to hell with what I think, because prior to going on Shark Tank, Steve landed a Black Friday deal with Groupon, and he makes legitimate money off of this (not a lot, but enough).

Mark Cuban gave him $25,000 for 33% ownership in the company and promised to help draw a cat for every 1,000 cat drawings.

It’s a dumb idea. But it’s a bloody brilliant business plan.

2 Kook’n Kap

*sigh* The Kook’n Kap.

Don’t you hate it when your hair smells like what you’ve just cooked? Founders Juli Deveau and Ozma Khan sure do. They presented to sharks another product that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get (a fancy hair cover). Like a shower cap, you put it over your hair when you’re cooking so that smell doesn’t get trapped in your hair. Juli and Ozma refer to it as the modern version of the chef hat.

Watching the pitch is wasted brain cells—and so is considering purchasing this product. Next!

1 Pet Paint

I don’t even have to explain the product for you to get it. It is colored hairspray for your pet. That’s it. The spraypaint even comes with stencils. Stop thinking this is cool—it’s not. You know why? Because every time you paint your dog, you’re going to have to wash your dog.

So many things in this world need to be fixed; the lack of paint on your pet is not one of them.

Shark Week is an opportunity for shark lovers to learn more about incredible creatures via the power of science and storytelling. As one of the most popular marine documentary programs, Shark Week manages to pull in millions of fans who tune in from all over the world whenever it airs.

But over the years, Shark Week has come under fire for its programming choices, with many finding faults with its premium content.

Our list dives into the top ten shark week conspiracy theories that cause heated debates among scientists and viewers alike. For some, the theories are plausible, but to others, they are just a marketing flourish for various actors looking to cash in from the publicity that shark fins create.

Related: Top 10 Fascinating Facts And Stories About Sharks

10 Fake Shark Stories

In 2014, Shark Week aired Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine, featuring a spooky tale about a shark called Submarine. Taking viewers to the wild shores of South Africa, the documentary narrated how a 30-foot (9-meter) white shark terrorized passengers after their boat sunk. While the story was gripping, it only had one mistake—but it was a big one. The story was based on a fictional occurrence featuring a mythical shark.

This was not the first time Shark Week featured a fake-u-mentary, but according to audiences, it was the most insensitive depiction to date. The events in the production were based on Hout Bay, a location where a boat ferrying capsized, leading to the death of two passengers. Trying to create a fictional story was one thing for viewers, but passing it off as an actual historical event was even more infuriating.

As it turns out, the story about Submarine was a fictionalized legend from the 1970s when journalists decided to play a prank on the public. Over the years, the shark was supposedly sighted across the ocean despite not existing in reality.

9 Rogue Sharks

National Geographic did a segment on rogue sharks and what could trigger a shark to attack. In 2018 in Australia, at the Whitsundays Islands, ocean goers were being attacked in formerly safe waters.

While rogue sharks are not common, bull sharks can be some of the most deadly when involved in a shark attack.

To study the sharks, scientists consider the human impact on the Whitsundays waters. With so much water activity, like boating, fishing, paddle boarding, etc., people were disposing of food waste by tossing scraps overboard and even baiting the water. Both practices are not allowed, but sharks soon learned this area was like a fast food drive-thru.

So sharks understood that when a person threw something from the boat, it more than likely meant dinner. But that also meant that when a swimmer jumped off a boat or fell off a paddleboard, they were being bitten immediately.

Most shark bites and attacks are cases of mistaken identity. This can be due to murky water conditions, a person’s resemblance to a mammal such as a sea lion, or their resemblance to food waste. Despite what Hollywood shows as vindictive or rogue sharks, attacks are rare.

8 Victims Stalked for Days

What would you do if you found yourself stranded in shark-infested waters? This question is explored in Shark Week’s 2019 show, Capsized: Blood in the Water. Like most Shark Week shows, the inspiration for the show was drawn from real-life events. But according to some circles, Shark Week is too obsessed with the sensationalized gritty aspects of the creatures while abandoning the science.

Blood in the Water focuses on the events surrounding a 1982 incident where a yacht crew found itself in the water after their boat capsized in a storm. A passenger who had sustained injuries was bleeding, and the blood drew the attention of tiger sharks. The predatory tiger sharks roamed the ship for five days, taking out one victim after another.

While the gritty events are entertaining for Shark Week audiences, not everyone is impressed with the production’s direction. Dr. Stephen Kaijura, a shark expert at Florida Atlantic University, told NBC News that it was disappointing that Shark Week focused on sensational aspects alone. He felt that the animals have diversity and carry a rich history of revolutionary interest. While these elements can offer more scientific information and knowledge, Shark Week focuses on catchy titles and themes.

For scientists and most viewers, Shark Week might only focus on sensational storytelling, ignoring the reality that it started as a scientific and educational program.

7 Shark Spies

In the movies, everyone can be a spy. Kids, senior adults, and even pets can be trained to complete various tasks in the service of a particular intelligence service. If you think you’ve seen everything, brace yourself for this conspiracy: Spy agencies can train sharks to “attack” humans.

In a controversial theory that made international headlines, bloody shark attacks in Egypt were blamed on the Israeli spy agency. The 2010 Sharm El Sheikh shark attacks, which led to the injury of Russian and Ukrainian tourists and the death of a German woman, were unprecedented. But after the attack, the narrative shifted, with some theorists blaming the shark attacks on the Mossad agency.

Conspiracy theorists claimed that Mossad used GPS tracking devices to guide sharks into Egyptian waters. With the historical tension between Egypt and Israel, the conspiracy theory had enough fodder to fuel it.

Before the attack, the two species of sharks that were implicated (the oceanic whitetip and mako shark) were commonly sighted, but attacks on humans were rare. In response to the attacks, the Egyptians declared an open season on sharks found in the nearby waters. By the end of the season, a mako and an oceanic whitetip were killed!

6 The Frilled Shark

Let’s go back about 80 million years when the frilled shark roamed the seas. With a long, thin body, these sharks swam around deep in the ocean; many believe that the shark survived and can still be found today at nearly half its original size. Yet, I would still give this shark a wide berth.

At its full size, the frilled shark has 25 rows of teeth, for a total of nearly 300 teeth. Additionally, the shark has six-gill slits on either side of its body to create a sucking action when attacking prey.

The Discovery Channel aired an episode titled The Frilled Shark during Shark Week in July 2021. They had captured a small frilled shark and were interested in studying the ancient shark. While the shark was fairly docile when threatened, it did try to attack.

Our encounters with such creatures are unlikely due to the depth at which they live. Frilled sharks enjoy swimming at nearly 4,921 feet (1,500 meters). And at those depths, you are likely to run into the famous Kraken. I think I’ll stay near the surface to avoid both creatures.

5 Sharks Avoid the Bermuda Triangle

The Bermuda Triangle, also famously known as the Devil’s Triangle, is an urban legend of the Atlantic Ocean. Off the coast of Miami, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda, the triangle has been blamed for the disappearance of hundreds of ships, suggesting the role of some out-of-world force. Now, some conspiracy theorists believe that sharks stay away from this black spot as a confirmation that there’s some sinister force at play.

The theory started with a TikTok user known as the Friendly Neighborhood Dogdude, who claimed that sharks avoid the area. Claiming that he used a shark tracking app, the social media theorist argued that the swim patterns reveal that the triangle exists and intelligent sharks avoid it. For many TikTok users, the evidence was proof that there was something in the water, proving the Bermuda Triangle theory valid.

While the theory appears legitimate, scientists explain the swimming patterns with a simple fact: Sharks swim into areas where there’s food. Sharks might not be going into the triangle because they don’t see any reason to do so. Also, sharks are known to migrate all the time, so how long did our TikTok sleuth track the sharks? Marine research usually takes months or years to conclude the facts, not a few days before major conclusions are made.

4 Are Dolphins Superior to Sharks?

Many of us have heard this theory, and some parts are true! Sharks tend to avoid dolphins when possible. For one, dolphins have a mix of flexible and rigid bodies, allowing them to evade or attack more easily. In comparison, sharks are pretty rigid, even if they attack with strength.

Let’s not forget a dolphin’s nose. Their nose can act as a battering ram in the case of an attack. Some dolphins even place themselves under a shark and swim quickly upward, plunging their hard nose into the soft belly of a shark. Talk about a sucker punch!

While this may not qualify as a Shark Week conspiracy, maybe dolphins need their own week on TV too.

3 Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives?

Shark Week is scientific, informative, and aired on the reputable Discovery Channel. But, when Shark Week aired Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives in 2013, it found itself in an uncomfortable position. The show had passed off a fictional production for a documentary, claiming that the now extinct megalodon had somehow made a comeback. In a world where fake news can sink even the most reputable organizations, Shark Week struggled to stay afloat.

In the 2013 episode, Shark Week brought the megalodon back to life, claiming that the marine megafauna was alive and terrorizing the open seas. The film featured multiple videos, photos, and firsthand encounters of scientists and witnesses that fabricated evidence of the shark’s existence. As an educational show, many felt that Shark Week had failed miserably and the public outrage that followed was proof.

To counter the negative reviews, Shark Week was forced to add disclaimers that the program was fictional. Yet, despite all the backlash from fans, Shark Week 2013 had great TV ratings. To date, it’s considered one of the most watched Shark Week shows, attracting close to five million viewers.

2 Have We Seen It All?

As our list winds down, you may be asking how, after 34 years, does Shark Week still have new content to release? Shark Week started in 1988 and shows no signs of extinction. Well, you could argue scientists learn something new every day. Or you could argue that it is all about the network’s money-making practices.

Either way, these YouTubers said it best, “We Saw Sharks Doing Sharky Things.”

1 “Baby Shark” Nation

The most popular shark of all is… “Baby Shark!” We had to throw in some humor after so much real-life shark stress. But did you know that even “Baby Shark”” has a conspiracy behind such a catchy tune?

The conspiracy follows that the song was created to amass a huge following. Families and kids across the world sing loyally along to the song. But with various versions, kids can be swayed to take action. Good and bad. I’m unsure how much ground this conspiracy holds, but I’ll let you decide.

Sharks are the most maligned creatures on earth. For most of human history, no one cared about these animals until swimming began to grow in popularity. The odd shark attack put them on the radar, and then the movie Jaws sealed their fate. They were slaughtered by the thousands afterward. Nowadays up to 100 million are killed every year. And it’s a damn shame because sharks are amazing in ways that most people never realize.

10. Sharks Attack More During a Full Moon

According to PETA, a cork from a champagne bottle is more likely to kill you than a shark. Whether or not that’s entirely true, it is a fact that shark attacks are relatively rare, and far rarer than most people think. Only 10 people died from unprovoked shark attacks in 2020. That said, if you want to maximize your odds of not being in the net group of 10, choose the time you head into the ocean wisely.

It turns out that sharks are the werewolves of the sea. Attacks tend to happen more often during a full moon than other times of the month. The fuller the moon, the more the attacks. And that makes it seem like perhaps the moonlight is allowing sharks to see better and therefore attack more, except that the attacks generally happen during the daytime, it’s just that they coincide with these lunar phases. 

We know that the moon has an obvious effect on the oceans with how the tides work, but clearly it’s angering up some sharks as well.

9. Some Sharks Glow in the Dark

Is a shark more or less intimidating if you can see it coming? There’s obviously something terrifying about something jumping out at you from nowhere, but what if you can see it approaching and just have no way to defend yourself? And with that in mind, would you be more or less scared of a shark that glows in the dark?

Bioluminescence is still something of a novelty to humans because, in the space we occupy, few animals are capable of glowing. In the sea, there are upwards of 1,500 species of fish that have the ability to generate light. These are generally deepwater fish, and they’re usually not sharks. But some of them are. In particular, three species discovered off the coast of New Zealand. One of them, the kitefin shark, grows to nearly six feet in length.

8. Several Shark Species Can Walk on Land

Whether their reputation is deserved or not, one thing most people could take solace in when it came to sharks was that they’d leave you alone if you left them alone. They live in the sea; we live on land. We never have to cross paths if we don’t want to. And then you find out that some sharks can walk on land. 

Science has identified a handful of fish species that can actually walk on land. In 2020, four new species of walking shark were identified. And if you read about them, the story details how they can use their pectoral fins to walk across the sea floor and hunt prey that lives under rocks and in coral. And that seems cool because they’re walking but not “land” walking, right? 

Of course, the epaulette shark is able to walk on land outside of the water, a feature that likely evolved to help it survive if it gets caught in shallows or in a pool when the tide goes out. They can stay out of the water for up to an hour.

7. Sharks Smell in Stereo

No doubt you have heard that a shark is able to sense electrical signals in the water, which is how it hunts. And if you think that’s to make up for poor eyesight, think again. Sharks have vision 10 times greater than humans. And if that wasn’t enough, their sense of smell is far more advanced than what a human has as well.

Sharks don’t just smell prey in the water, they smell it in stereo. When a shark is swimming and there’s injured prey in the water, the smell will hit one nostril before another. The shark will navigate by the timing of the smell that reaches it, so it will turn towards whichever nostril smelled the smell first. As they swim, moving their head through the smell, they pick which nostril is getting the most smell to direct their movements.

In highly concentrated areas of smell, say a pool of blood, they need to be able to distinguish which nostril is getting the highest concentration of smell and adjust their tack based on that. They can make these adjustments to their direction in mere seconds. 

6. Venomous Sharks live in the Thames River

There are a lot of dangerous animals in the world, and they can be dangerous for different reasons. Things like bees and hornets attack in large groups. A cheetah is fast. A rattlesnake is venomous. And a shark has deadly jaws and speed in the water. But at least that’s all. Except for a couple of species of sharks that are actually venomous, too.

Turns out that being a shark just isn’t intimidating enough for a handful of species, including one that’s been found in the Thames River in England.  Though the Thames was essentially a polluted trickle of death for many years, it’s been making a steady comeback lately and part of that has included signs of sharks known as spurdogs in the water. Spurdogs are just under two feet in length and have spines in front of their dorsal fins that can envenomate prey. 

5. Cookie Cutter Sharks Disabled Nuclear Subs

Jaws made us afraid of Great White sharks but the real terror of the deep are cookiecutter sharks. They may only be 20 inches long, but these little beasts have a real horror movie side to them, which is basically their mouths. They get their name because that mouth allows them to bite nearly perfect circles out of their prey. And then some.

Turns out the sharks like to bite almost everything, including nuclear subs. Their tiny size and unique mouths meant that, back when nuclear subs were first taking to the water, any exposed non-metal parts were perfect prey for the sharks. They’d bite hoses and cables and whatever else they could reach. Their attacks on rubber sonar domes blinded subs and forced them to return to dock for repairs. 

The subs were later designed with some stronger materials and the tiny sharks’ reign of terror was over, at least insofar as it related to nuclear weapons.

4. Sharks Were Discovered in an Active Underwater Volcano

The microscopic tardigrade is one of the most indestructible creatures in the world. They can survive mountaintops and the depths of the ocean, they can survive outer space and temperatures that range from -328 degrees to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. It seems like no environment is too extreme. And, as it happens, there are some sharks that have taken a page from the tardigrade’s book.

Near the Solomon Islands there’s an underwater volcano called Kavachi. It’s an active volcano, and it erupts frequently, spewing ash and lava and chemicals into the water. In 2015, when researchers went to investigate, it was not erupting at that time, but the water was still very hot and acidic. They sent down a camera and saw two species of shark living right in the caldera of the volcano. 

Sharks are known to be able to endure deep water, so the water around the volcano is just another extreme. It’s believed that their ability to sense electromagnetic signals may help them survive by warning them before the volcano actually erupts so they can leave the area.

3. Sharks Like Jazz

There is an abundance of research that shows animals like music. Classical music causes cows to produce more milk. Elephants seem to like classical music as well. And sharks? Well, they respond to jazz.

Based on research that involved using food as a reward, researchers determined that sharks were more attracted to the sound of jazz music than something like classical. When they played jazz music, the sharks would swim towards it to get their food reward. When combined with classical the sharks got confused but cut them a break, they’re just fish. 

The research is a nice complement to the idea that sharks tend to be attracted to certain sounds in water, in particular boat engines. People on boats chum the waters, in particular when they want to swim with sharks, so it shows sharks can learn to go towards certain sounds that might otherwise seem like they should offer nothing or even scare animals away.

2. Bull Sharks Can Live in Freshwater

Although Great White sharks get a lot of press because of movies like Jaws and the fact that they’re just kind of huge, they are not considered the most dangerous shark in the sea. That honor goes to bull sharks. Bull sharks are highly aggressive and are not afraid to protect their territory. Keep in mind there are not that many shark attacks from any species at all, but bull sharks are still one of the more aggressive species in the water. And the fact they’re not confined to saltwater makes them a little more intimidating.

Most sharks need to regulate the levels of salt in their body and that requires them to live in saltwater all the time. A great white shark in freshwater will die fairly quickly as its cells breakdown due to a lack of salt when their body essentially becomes diluted with freshwater. A bull shark, however, has adapted the ability to recycle salt in its own body through its kidneys and some tail glands that retain salt.

Bull sharks typically have their young in fresh or brackish water, which helps protect them from predators. Though they do head out to sea eventually, they are able to stay and thrive in freshwater. 

1. Sharks Can Pushed Their Insides Right Out

Sharks are known as voracious eaters.A great white can sustain itself for around two weeks on 66 pounds of food. A whale shark will consume 46 pounds of plankton per day. Suffice it to say, sharks can eat. And not everything they consume is even food. Some have been caught with things as bizarre as wine bottles, drums, and even a cannonball in their stomachs. 

Given how much goes into a shark, it seems reasonable that there has to be a way for it to get back out again. And there is, even if it’s not the way you’d think. Sharks have the ability to throw up in the most over the top way possible, by forcing their entire stomachs back out of their mouths. 

The act is most often seen when sharks are under stress, from things like being caught by fishermen or being beached, for instance. 

It’s believed that sharks do this not just out of stress, but also to essentially rinse out their stomachs. If they have a lot of foreign material or dangerous materials inside, they can dump it, rinse it in seawater, and suck it right back in. It takes only a moment for a shark to push its stomach out and then swallow it again, and they seem to be no worse for it once it’s done.