The thought of sharks conjures up images from Hollywood movies: predatory creatures, out for blood, deliberately hunting down unwary beachgoers. The thing is, they don't even like to eat people. Human blood doesn't get them going the way the blood of the stuff they actually eat does. And when they attack, it's usually just a single bite.

The hunter satisfies its voracious appetite with seals, fish and other animals found in the sea. To capture these animals it has developed the necessary qualities of speed, strength, agility and a mouth armed with many, many teeth. This is a prime reason we humans perceive them as so very frightening.

Sharks will mistake people more often as prey, when they are mimicking the prey's behavior. When people are swimming far away from the shore, splashing around while on their surfboard waiting to catch that next big wave to ride, they are in the position to be mistaken for a seal who has been hurt. Even though the people may not have known it, it is no different that someone who decided to go for a swim and was dragged out to sea by the tide. It is just a matter of wrong time, wrong place, and doing the wrong thing.

Nevertheless, out of the millions of people who visit beaches each year, only about 12 are killed by sharks. Also, there are just about 90 shark attacks yearly, with many of them being just bumps or nudges, usually only leaving a bruise. Of course it is a tragedy whenever an accident occurs, but we must remember that these are accidents and not intentional actions on the part of sharks.

You know what's about 10 times more dangerous to people than sharks? Falling coconuts. Really. Even the most aggressive of the sharks, the tiger shark and the great white shark, rarely attack humans. Heck, driving to the beach is far more dangerous as driving kills more than 40,000 people each year in the US alone.

It is only human to feel compassion for anyone who suffers a shark bite. However, one should also feel a similar sort of distress on behalf of all those sharks that will be slaughtered for vengeance. These creatures cannot comprehend the reason they are being tracked and murdered. Only humans can recognize the concept of punishment. Unless we eradicate them all, we are going to have to learn to live alongside them. We have certainly not achieved safety by attempting the former approach.