Shark attacks? Lottery wins more likely

Experts say there are more than 350 species of sharks in the world, and through fishing and hunting, we humans are far more of a danger to them than they are to us.But all it took was one fictitious animal to strike fear in the hearts of beach goers everywhere."Jaws. You gotta go back to Jaws. Jaws started it all," says Tom Wagner with The Florida Aquarium.In Florida, there are dozens of different types of sharks in the water. The tiger shark, the nurse shark and the black tipped shark are just a few of the most common. If you're in the water, you can be almost certain there is a shark nearby, but almost always, you'd never know it."If you live in Florida, you have a better chance of being struck by lightning four times than having contact with a shark in the wild," Wagner said.According to Florida Fish and Wildlife, there have been only 11 confirmed shark attacks in Pinellas County since 1882. You're far more likely to win the lottery, they say, than get bitten by a shark.When encounters do happen in Florida, it's often in the summer simply because there are more people in the water. The sharks most notorious for doing the biting are the black tip shark, the hammerhead and the bull shark.In 2000, a 69-year-old man died after jumping off his dock and being bitten by a bull shark. It was only the second fatality in Pinellas in the last 125 years.Wednesday, 19-year-old Jenna James was swimming just 30 feet from a dock in that same area. Emergency officials said it appears she too was bitten by a shark, though her injuries are not life threatening."Sharks don't look at people as food. So, most often what you see is a single bite, which is an exploratory bite," explains Wagner.Experts also say it's not unusual to find sharks near docks or piers. Fish generally gather around piers, and sharks go where the food is.Though encounters are rare, officials say you should always look where you're swimming and avoid swimming at dusk and dawn when sharks are most active.