Increase of coastal shark bite frequency linked to the COVID-19 lockdown reveals a territoriality-dominance behaviour toward humans

What is it about?

Sharks' motivations for biting humans can be of various kinds sometimes difficult to distinguish from one another. In tropical environment, numerous bites on humans, mostly superficial and non-fatal by small to medium-sized coastal sharks have been described. They have the particularity of occurring suddenly, without the victim having shown the slightest action that might have justified the bite. Possible motives are i) territoriality (the shark is defending a territory or dominance over the intruder), or ii) anti-predation (the shark anticipates a threat by attacking a potential aggressor). Thanks to the anthropause linked to COVID19 , which has led Polynesian sea users to desert the marine environment, and the fact that on their return they were the victims in 2020 of numerous (above-average) bites of this type, we demonstrate that the motivation for these bites is more related to the first than to the second hypothesis.

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