Von_Rahvin, exactly!
Too many people want to believe everything is always going to be okay when they are dealing with wild animals, that unfortunately isn't always the case.
Remember the idiot who thought he could live with the grizzlies? He ended up coming out the wrong end on that deal! :eek1:
I've spent my whole life in and around the water. I've seen literally hundreds and hundreds of sharks, some tiny, some huge. Fortunately, they are predictable most of the time. It's the rare instances that they aren't when you have to worry. And, they should all be respected, but especially the larger ones.
The larger ones are NOT afraid of you. If they want to attack you there isn't much your going to be able to do in most instances. Underwater, they definitely have the advantage and the neccessary equipment to inflict catastrophic damage to whatever they want, whether you like it or not. They are apex predators in their environment, you are not. If you don't believe me look at your teeth in the mirror!
While wade fishing I have had numerous 6 to 8' sharks approach and systematically remove all or most of the fish from my stringer. Once a big one gets going they tend to become a whole lot less afraid of you or anything else, for that matter. On one occassion, near the mouth of a river, I had an approx. 12 footer decide that he wanted to get a whole lot closer than I wanted. I had no fish on me at the moment and it didn't seem to make any difference. The fish would approach me on the sand bar and then arch away, only to circle and approach from a different direction.
All I had to defend myself was my 7' fishing rod which I poked and slapped at the fish with each time it tried to "investigate" me. I honestly believe that this fish had decided that I belonged on its menu. After several nervous minutes of this it finally decided to leave after I managed to kick it on the head. Thank God, I was only in about 3 foot of water! After I managed to kick it, it took off about a 100yards. I then took this opportunity to head throught the deeper water of the gut that separated me from the shore. Without looking back I took off as fast I could through the neck deep water for shore. When I got into wasit deep water, again, I looked back and it was once again coming back my direction. Talk about determined.
The more time you spend in the water, the more chances you have of being bitten. Yes, the chances are extremely slim, but they do increase the more time your in it. People always like to say that you have more chance of dying in your shower or in the car, but these really aren't all that great of things to compare it with. Afterall, you spend an enormous amount of time doing those types of things and you do them everyday, not just every once in while, like diving. It's really like comparing apples and oranges, IMO.
Also, a lady from my hometwon was attacked on a night dive. Her mostly eaten torso was retrieved from the water a few days later. Try telling her family that it's safer to dive than drive a car!
BTW the worst shark problem I ever had was running out of film while photographing them 
