A person is less likely to be bitten, or worse, eaten by a shark than by being stung by a bee or struck by a thunder lightning. But anybody would prefer a death by a bee sting or thunder lighting than being ripped head to toe by a deadly man-eater shark. The man eater shark is the natures deadliest killing machine-immensely powerful, totally confident and fearless. But this is only half the truth. We all know that sharks don't come to land to kill man but on the contrary are hunted for various purposes by lethal weapons.

Even today, once can swim safely in water without getting hurt even if the shark is seen nearby. All we need is to take some precautions. Water is Shark's territory. If we don't let her know that we have trespassed it, there is a little chance that Shark will attack us. While going to lurk in shark prone waters, one can take following precautions to keep sharks at a bay:

• Stay in groups. Sharks are attracted to a single defenseless big prey.



• Wandering too far from shore is making oneself shark's dinner. This isolates you from your group and keeps you far from assistance.



• Do not go into water during darkness or twilight. Sharks are very active at these times and have a competitive sensory advantage.



• Sharks are the sniffer dogs of the sea! They can smell 1 drop of blood from ¼ mile away. So do not enter water if bleeding or even if menstruating.



• Wearing shining jewelry is again an open invitation to sharks, as their shine may resemble to the fish scales.



• Avoid waters with known effluents or sewage and those being used by sport or commercial fisherman, especially if there are signs of bait fishes or feeding activity. Diving seabirds are good indicators of such action. Sightings of porpoises do not indicate absence of sharks- both often feed at same kind of food.



• Use extra caution when waters are murky and avoid uneven tanning and bright colored clothing -sharks see contrast particularly well.



• Avoid extra splashing and keep pets away from water for their erratic behavior-such movements indicate schools of fish to sharks.



• Exercise caution when occupying the area between sandbars or near steep drop off these are favorite hangouts for sharks.



• Do not enter water if sight a shark or evacuate the water calmly and quickly if you spot one while swimming.



• If you develop an injury while swimming and start bleeding, quit from water as quickly and as calmly as possible. Tell others to leave too.



• If you feel something brushed past you, leave the water and check for bite marks or injuries. Shark bites are often painless.



• Do not harass even the tiniest shark you see, cause even that can bite your toe off!



• Don't carry dead fish when swimming or diving.



• Keep the shark in sight (if you spot one), particularly if you are swimming underwater. In most shark attacks, the victim didn't see the shark. Sharks seem to shy away from people who look directly at them.



• If you see one fin cutting through the water, that is likely a dolphin. Two fins-one behind the other-are more likely to be a shark, with its back and tail fins above the surface.



• Get out of water if you see schools of fishes jumping erratically-they might be doing so because shark is heading to feed on them.



• Urinating children - any bodily fluid in the water is like the smell of apple pie wafting through the kitchen - the shark's kitchen - and everybody knows there's plenty of such fluids in the water at any public beach, and not just from kids either.



• Scuba divers look like seals wearing bright clothes to sharks.



• Spear fishing. Done in a scuba suit in the water, of course. Injured fish give off a chemical that to a shark is like that smell of apple pie to us - come and get it.



• Think you're safe in shallow water? Most attacks take place in waist deep water or less. Remember that shark-eye view - so many legs, so little time .. Sometimes there's no reason at all that makes a shark aggressive - one case of a grandmother walking her grandson along the edge of the beach saw a dark form headed straight for them, lifted her grandson in the air, only to see a four foot shark beach itself in an attempt to bite him. As they continued their walk on the dry area of beach, several more sharks followed them 200 yards up the beach.



• Do not go bare in water. The taste of a neoprene swimsuit is good enough to tell the shark that you are wrong choice. Most sharks, (other than the great whites) prefer "tasting" their meal first than eating it. This can give you a chance to swim to safety after first bite.