http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=267217&threshold=1&commentsort=0&mod
e=thread&pid=20200689#20201743

  Sharks bite at stuff, it's what sharks do, they are pretty much
giant eating machines living in the ocean.

Spoken like a true Jaws watcher who's never actually seen a shark in
real life. I have, and I can tell you that it's *damn* hard to get
anywhere near them, as they are far more afraid of you than you are of
them.

You're also wrong about shark vision, many sharks have excellent
vision. They are also quite intelligent, research (that I can't be
bothered finding links on) has demonstrating sharks solving problems
that were previously thought to be beyond them. They're not exactly
going to be April fooling Flipper, but they aren't the mindless ocean
dwelling mulchers that you seem to think they are.

Sharks also almost uniformly go for dead or dying fish. They are
predators of opportunity. Only the great white is a habitual predator,
and even then it will not attack prey that it feels can fight back. So
in short, if you have a tiger, bull or bronze whaler shark circling
you and eying you the way you'd eye a McDonalds burger (although I
think the average human would be healthier than McDonals), swimming
confidently towards it would likely scare it off. If not, a punch in
the nose or gills is almost certain to do so. I'm not saying it's
foolproof, but its better than scrambling to the surface like a
panicked seal. If you have a great white circling you, looking hungry,
the same tactic would work, only pray first. Jokes aside, sharks of
any species are hard to approach. If you're diving and you see one,
you're lucky, not unlucky. They can sense you well outside visible
range, and they know you're not food and will avoid you before you
even knew they were there. I really wish I saw more sharks on the
dives I've done, and plan on going shark watching more. They truly are
beautiful creatures.

We don't look anything like food they're used to, we smell funny, give
off all kinds of weird electrical signals with all that metal gear we
carry and we certainly don't taste good, which is why most attack
victims survive the first exploratory nibble, as the shark wrinkles
its nose, thinking "eew, human" and goes off to find a tasty seal. If
the shark wanted to eat the surfer, we wouldn't be yelling "jeez that
surfer got attacked!", we'd be mumbling "I coulda sworn there was a
surfer there a minute ago".

Well yes, that is right, you do not WANT to be anywhere near his yaws.
But to be honest, if a shark is attacking you, then that is where you
WILL be. Any attempt at escape will result in you being surely eaten,
with only one chance of survival - ram the shark, hit it's nose, eyes,
whatnot. Sharks are stupid - they are used to things escaping but will
get confused at things actually fighting back.

It's that simple - sometime you have to overcome your fears and do the
seemingly dangerous just to get better odds at surviving.