Wildlife Expert Explained Why Tiger Sharks Attack Shallow Water Surfers in 2019: “Dumpsters of the Sea”

They get their name from the dark stripes on their streamlined body, resembling that of the apex predator. Just like their namesake land mammal, Tiger Sharks are no less predatory in open waters. Although they may not be definitively termed as ‘man-eaters’, Tiger Sharks are known to chew anything that comes their way. This gives them their nickname “Dumpsters of the Sea”, as per wildlife expert Forrest Galante.

Doing a breakdown episode of animal attack scenes from movies for GQ magazine in 2019, American adventurer Forrest Galante picks up on the authenticity of a scene (although there were other errors) from a 2016 movie starring Blake Lively. Here’s him explaining the reason behind it.

Tiger Sharks often attack surfers for the false impression they provide them

Shallows is a 2016 movie about a girl named Nancy (played by Lively), who goes surfing and gets attacked by a shark that leaves her stranded on a rock, all by herself. In one of the pivotal scenes, Nancy is surfing a big wave, when out of nowhere the shark comes out of shallow waters and knocks her off her surfboard. While the remainder of the movie follows her quest for survival, Galante talked about this particular scene.

On watching it with GQ, he said, “First of all, we have Blake lively on a surfboard right? She is clearly getting picked off by a Tiger Shark”. Following this, he explained why Tiger Sharks often attack surfers on their surfboards. He continued, “Absolutely Tiger Sharks attack surfers. Now tiger sharks attack a lot of things. They are known as the dumpsters of the sea, right? But the reason specifically that Tiger Sharks have been known to attack surfers is when you are dangling your arms and your legs off your board, you look like a sea turtle, and that’s tiger sharks’ favorite meal”. It was a very subtle yet important detail that the film got it right.

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Galante continued, “You have a big round thing in the middle of your surfboard which looks like a shell, and your four flippers bobbin around”. This forms an image of a sea turtle to the sharks when seen from the depths of water. Despite their aggression, a human-to-tiger-shark encounter is relatively rare and some believe their reputation as man-eaters might not be fair. Here’s one instance from last month that got mixed responses from fans.

A close call with a Tiger Shark

In a viral nerve-wracking video, a tiger shark lurking beside swimmers sent viewers into a frenzy. The comment section under the YouTube video was mixed. Some believe that tiger sharks have an unfair reputation for attacking humans. Whereas others said that the danger of going into their habitat is always very high.

Besides Galante, sharks have been a subject of fascination for other sports personalities as well. Michael Phelps once wanted to race a real shark that scared his wife, and Kobe Bryant once went to the extremes of studying them to overpower his most fierce rival, Allen Iverson. Despite the threat they possess, researchers have never stopped studying sharks.

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