Selachophobia: the scientific name for an abnormal and persistent fear of sharks - is a serious problem for many would-be swimmers. Sufferers are usually completely unable to swim in the sea, even when reassured that shark nets and other safety procedures are in force.
Some people are so scared of sharks that pictures of them alone can induce panic attacks, and there are many recorded cases of people who are so terrified that they are unable to swim in pools hundreds of miles from the sea, or even to take baths, for fear that they will be attacked by a shark.
Yes, as silly as it sounds, I do have this phobia. I can take baths without a problem, so I'm not completely insane. But I refuse to ever get within 10 feet of the ocean, or really any large body of water. It made problems when my Grandma wanted to go on a boat ride in Lake Michigan or the time I refused to take the boat to Alcatraz when we visited San Fransisco. I won't get in a swimming pool alone, or at night. (I figured this one out at Grandparent's house. They have a pool. My Mom turned on all these colored pool lights at night and I tried to go swimming alone. Less then 3 minutes later i was running full speed into the house, soaking wet =P).
And yes, even pictures of sharks scare the poop out of me too. Tiger Sharks, Bull Sharks, White or Black tipped Reef Sharks, and of course... Great white Sharks are the worst. Thought just about any, other then Whale Sharks, will make me close the page or freeze my in place.
The idea of Sharks is even scarier then they are. You almost never can see them coming. Their faster then you by a HUGE amount. A Great White can grow as big as some houses are long. Yes, I measured. Measure 25 feet in you house. Their are -fish- that fucking big with teeth like serrated knives! Sometimes I think I have a very rational fear. Great White's again have a mouth large enough to swallow me whole. Or bite me in half without any trouble. Tiger Sharks can swallow and digest almost anything. From turtles or car bumpers. Reef Sharks, like the name says, live in coral reefs. You know, those things diving trips go to?
I don't hate sharks. I don't wish mass slaughter on them either. In fact, the Asian Shark Fin Soup craze, where they catch sharks, cut off their fins, and sometimes throw the helpless animals back into the water to die is cruel as fuck and should be outlawed, or regulated to make sure the entire animal is used and killed humanly. But they scare me. Alot. The "I-cried-when-almost-tossed-into-the-ocean" kind of fear.
Wanted to share this tidbit about myself, and pose a question. Why does what scare us, sometimes fascinate us? My dad showed me a picture of him and Cherryl in an aquarium. Sharks where swimming about behind them in their shark-like tank. I didn't want to look at it. But while writing like, i Google'd Great Whites and watched a video of them leaping out of the water to bite seals in half. I was rooting to the chair and my hands got all cold and clammy. But I couldn't stop watching. WTF, why?
-said video-
THIS ONE is just plain INSANE
DID you KNOW? Of the day! I have 2. The first is, do you know a motif is? I didn't until my junior year of high school. My mythology teacher taught me. My definition, a motif is a piece of much assigned to something, in a move, musical, ect, that is used to represent that charactor. Star Wars. The Imperial March is always played when Vander enters the scene? Luke has his own motif, I forget the name of it. JAWS, of course, has its own motif. The duh dun duh dun we all know and love. I brought up, beeeeecause...
The "theme song" from JAWS (I'd rather call it the sharks motif) is considered one of the most recognizable songs/sound clips in the world. I'm searching now, cause I read a poll once that actually ranked them. JAWS came third, I think... James Bond ans the Pink Panther might have been the ones above it. I cant remember.
