Credit: R.J. Mataleone/Worth1000.com
Anecdotal evidence suggests that sharks generally take swimmers from behind. If true, this suggests that they are attempting to avoid detection as they approach & so, that they have an understanding of which is the back & front of a human being.
All of this calls into question the widely held belief that shark attacks on humans are experiments or mistakes.
Dr. Erich Ritter of the Shark Research Institute has conducted an experiment that throws further light on these questons:
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21591551-some-sharks-know-how-stay-out-sight-nearby-people-hes-behind-you / human beings believe top food chain victim victim’s friends friend relative relatives natural order attack attacks aberration aberrations predators’ predator normal behaviour sharks fish mistake mistaken experiment human swimmers seals seal turtles turtle Dr. Erich Ritter Shark Research Institute American charitable foundation attack data prove proof sense shark’s point of view approach would detect detected mistake experiment results publish published Animal Cognition scuba divers kneel seabed site Bahamas reef sharks divers stationary direction travel front kneel kneeling body shapes shape person divers knelt alone back to back pairs pair camera surface 12 metres above recorded record statistics statistician colleague Raid Amin University of West Florida analyse 312 encounters approaching shark passed behind undetected back /
