Fishes of the Western North Atlantic 71 



true of them in warm seas. This applies also to the Greenland Shark (Somniosus) of Arctic 

 seas, for while it preys habitually on living seals it is so sluggish that both Eskimos and 

 whale fishermen look upon it with contempt (p. 522). 



The general conclusion from the foregoing is that in continental waters in temperate 

 and boreal latitudes on either side of the North Atlantic the danger to a swimmer of 

 attack by a shark, although existent, is so exceedingly remote as to be wholly negligible, 

 unless it be known that a shark of some dangerous kind has been seen in the vicinity re- 

 cently. We believe this to be equally true of the coastwise waters of the North Pacific 

 south to southern California on the one side and to northern Japan and northern China 

 on the other, although our personal information is less extensive there than for the North 

 Atlantic. 



Categorical statement is not so safe for warmer seas, because reported attacks have 

 been much more frequent there, because large sharks of the potentially dangerous kinds 

 are far more numerous, and because local conditions differ widely between different re- 

 gions. For coral-reef areas all our sources of information, including personal experience, 

 agree that while dangerous sharks may be numerous offshore and along the seaward slopes 

 of the reefs, they seldom enter the lagoons and are much less likely to enter any smaller 

 pools among banks and coral heads. Large sharks do not often come into wading depth 

 along open beaches, especially if the swell is breaking heavily a short distance out, as is so 

 often the case, unless attracted by slaughterhouse wastes, etc., or by corpses, as in India. 

 Shoal-water bathing is therefore reasonably safe in such situations, at least in the daytime, 

 unless as just qualified or unless the local inhabitants advise against it. In deeper harbors, 

 more open to the sea, it is wiser to err on the side of caution, unless the locality is declared 

 safe by local report, which is usually reliable. 



Under normal circumstances the danger of attack to a bather offshore, even in tropical 

 seas, also appears very slight, for the chances are much against any dangerous sharks being 

 close at hand or of their being in a feeding mood if present. But if persons in the water are 

 bleeding from injuries the danger from shark attack may be imminent and the results may 

 prove fatal. The more voracious of the larger sharks are excited by blood in the water to 

 such a degree that they will make ferocious attacks, whether the object be fish, whale or 

 man, dead or alive. Attempts to drive the attacker away by blows or splashing are likely 

 to be futile, although success might be achieved if the swimmer were uninjured. Instances 

 are on record, apparently on good evidence, of crews from capsized boats being attacked 

 and pulled down in tropical seas 5 the southwestern Pacific is reported to have been the site 

 of such events during the recent war. 



So extensive is the resulting laceration likely to be that bites from any large sharks 

 are extremely dangerous for they are followed by very rapid bleeding and severe shock, 

 even if the wounds are not still more directly destructive. Thus, "so far as known, about 

 one-half of Australia's shark attacks have ended fatally.'"' 



18. Whitley, Fish. Aust., /, 1940: 16. 



