They're prehistoric, cold-blooded killers, one of the few animals that mankind has not yet conquered and has difficulty dealing with. Perhaps that explains the special status – part fascination, part fear – we accord to sharks.
"Of all the predators implicated in man-eating events, none conjures up more intense dread," wrote author Richard G. Fernicola in his book Twelve Days of Terror.
Whether you agree or not, shark references permeate our culture. We see them in movies, from Jaws to Finding Nemo. We see them on television, where the Discovery Channel airs "Shark Week." We see them on the Internet, where some of the photos depicted here - including one in which a shark comes menacingly close to a kayaker - were viewed by thousands of people as they were spread across the globe via websites and email.
THOMAS PESCHAKThis photo was taken in South Africa, where researchers used kayaks to observe sharks. The photo has been seen by thousands of people as it rocketed around the Internet, proof that the fascination with sharks is universal.
Perhaps more alarming, news desks have elevated man-versus-shark events to primetime, from surfers attacked in California, Florida and Hawaii last week to the shrimp boat captain whose vessel was reportedly sunk by a bull shark in February.
"They say they're endangered species," said Capt. Roger Schmall in a phone interview last month, "but I was the one feeling endangered that day."
Yet relatively little is written about the behavior of sharks and what to do if you actually meet one. Most people know they can sense blood, but are they attracted to metal, bright colors or noise? If you get close, is it better to flee or to be still?
Boaters are undeniably closer to the beast than the rest of the population. Yet the lack of information in boating classes and books – Chapman Piloting and Seamanship, widely considered the boater's bible, has no entry on sharks – results in both mystique and fear that Fernicola captured well.
"Imagine being a shipwrecked sailor, a surfer or a beach bather about to be attacked, dismembered, and consumed by a dark, black-eyed monster with razor-sharp teeth, vicelike jaws, and sandpaper-like skin," he wrote.
