Why am I so afraid of sharks?
Most people who are afraid of sharks have never been in the water with one. The fear is real all the same, and it is mostly about something other than the animal.
What the fear is about
Ask someone to describe their fear of sharks and they will usually describe a scene, not a fish.
- Being out of your depth, with your legs hanging down where you cannot see them.
- Something large coming up from underneath.
- A fin, and then nothing.
- An animal that does not stop, does not tire and cannot be reasoned with.
A film from 1975 gave most of us that scene. The numbers tell a different story.
What the numbers and the fossils say
- Shark bites are very rare. In 2025 the International Shark Attack File confirmed 65 unprovoked bites in the whole world, nine of them fatal. The average over the five years before was 61 bites a year.Source: Florida Museum of Natural History, International Shark Attack File
- Sharks are older than trees. The earliest fossil evidence of them is about 450 million years old, and they have come through five mass extinctions since.Source: Natural History Museum, London
What the fear can point to
If the risk is that small, the size of the fear needs another explanation. Here are two, for you to weigh against what you know of yourself. Neither is a finding.
The first is the water. In the scene people describe, the worst part comes before the shark: floating on the surface while something moves below that you cannot see. Many of us live that way with our own feelings. We stay on top, keep busy, and would rather not know what is underneath. A fear of sharks can be a fear of depth with a face put on it.
The second is appetite. We call a person a shark when they go after what they want and do not apologise: the loan shark, the card shark, the shark in the boardroom. If the word makes you angry, look at your own wanting. Ambition, hunger and the wish to win are often the first things a well-behaved child learns to hide. They do not go away. They circle.
People also mention that the shark never rests. If you cannot stop either, and stopping feels like sinking, you may be looking at a relative.
Three questions to ask yourself
- Which is worse for you, the teeth or not being able to see what is under you?
- Whom do you call a shark, and what do they do that you would never let yourself do?
- What do you want badly enough that it frightens you a little?
Questions people ask
How likely is a shark attack?
Very unlikely. The International Shark Attack File confirmed 65 unprovoked bites worldwide in 2025, nine of them fatal, out of the vast number of people who went into the sea that year.
Why are people so afraid of sharks when attacks are so rare?
Because the fear is about the situation more than the odds: deep water, no view of what is below, and no control. Films and news reports supply the picture, and one vivid picture outweighs a great many statistics.
Is fear of sharks a phobia?
A shiver at the thought is normal. If you cannot go into the sea at all, or even a swimming pool, and you wish you could, that has become a phobia. It is worth raising with a doctor or therapist, who will have met it before.
What can a fear of sharks point to in me?
Sometimes to unease with what is under your own surface, and sometimes to a mixed relationship with wanting things and going after them. It may also be nothing more than a film you saw too young.