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Sharks are fascinating animals with a range of personalities. They suffer from numerous misleading stereotypes and myths and instill fear in many people who so much as think about them.1 However, shark attacks on people are actually rare.2 I must admit that while I am afraid of sharks, I find them to be beautiful animals and always want to learn more about them. Most fortunately, I’m able to talk with shark expert Dr. Mikki McComb-Kobza whenever I like and am thrilled she could take the time to shed some light on who sharks really are and why they need us now.
Marc Bekoff: How did you get interested in your long-term research on sharks?
Mikki McComb-Kobza: My fascination with sharks began with fear—pure, cinematic fear. I was a young girl sitting in a dark movie theater when Jaws first exploded onto the screen. That movie didn’t just scare me; it rewired my imagination. For months, I was convinced a shark could appear anywhere—beneath the kitchen table, under my bed. When I tried out for the swim team, I swam as fast as I could to escape imaginary sharks coming out of the drain.
Eventually, as fear turned into fascination,my love of sharks became the foundation of my work today as a scientist, diver, educator, and CEO of Ocean First Institute.
MB: What are some of the areas you study?
MMK: My research now spans several interconnected fields of shark biology and conservation, all aimed at understanding how these animals function within their environments and how we can protect them:
- Sensory systems and physiology— including my early work on hammerheads and how their wide, unusual head shape enhances vision, maneuverability, and electrosensory perception.
- Behavior and movement ecology— using long-term tracking to understand where sharks go, when, and why.
- Endangered species recovery—focusing particularly on pregnant sharks and critical nursery habitats.
- Environmental DNA (eDNA)—developing non-invasive tools to detect shark species from a simple water sample.
- Human–shark perception—examining how fear, culture, and storytelling shape public attitudes, risk assessment, and conservation policy.
All of these threads align around one central question: How can we protect sharks by helping the world understand who they truly are?
MB: What are your major findings and messages about these amazing beings?
- Myth #1: Sharks are aggressive predators hunting humans.
- Reality: Sharks are not interested in us. They spend their lives looking for fish—not people—and most species are shy, cautious, and risk-averse.
- Myth #2: We should fear sharks.
- Reality: The International Shark Attack File has tracked shark–human interactions for more than 400 years. On average, 3–4 fatal shark attacks occur globally each year.
In contrast, humans kill an estimated 100 million sharks annually for their fins and meat. Sharks have far more to fear from us than we do from them. - Myth #3: Sharks are primitive animals with simple brains.
- Reality: Sharks are sophisticated, intelligent animals with excellent memory, spatial learning abilities, and some of the most advanced sensory systems on the planet. Hammerheads, for example, evolved their wide head not as a weapon but as a sensory platform.
- Myth #4: Sharks must be thriving because they are apex predators.
- Reality: Many shark species are collapsing. Over one-third are now threatened with extinction due to fishing pressure, habitat loss, and climate change.
- Myth #5: Losing sharks wouldn’t matter in the big picture.
- Reality: This is the most dangerous myth of all—because an ocean without sharks is far more frightening than an ocean with them.
There are over 530 shark species alive today—an astonishing array of forms and adaptations shaped across more than 450 million years. Sharks survived all five mass extinction events. They predate the dinosaurs, the trees, and even the rings of Saturn.
They also maintain the balance of marine ecosystems. Remove sharks and entire food webs begin to unravel: herbivores overgraze, predators shift prey, coral reefs degrade, fisheries destabilize, and coastal resilience declines.
Healthy oceans need sharks. And healthy oceans benefit us—our economies, our food security, and our climate stability. When people replace the monster myth with ecological truth, they see sharks not as threats, but as marvels—majestic, intelligent survivors with extraordinary evolutionary histories.
MB: Who do you hope to reach with your research?
MMK: Anyone who has ever been afraid to go in the ocean. Anyone who saw Jaws or another fear-based shark movie and walked away with a story that wasn’t real. I want to reach policymakers, fishery managers, and conservationists—but also children, families, and entire communities whose beliefs about sharks have been shaped more by film than by science. Beneath every fear is a story. and stories can be rewritten.
MB: How does your work differ from others in the same field?
MMK: I work at the intersection of science, psychology, and storytelling. Many shark researchers focus on tagging, population biology, or fisheries—critical work. But the cultural narrative around sharks often stands in the way of conservation Fear drives policy. Myth drives management.
My work blends rigorous science with public communication, education, youth engagement, and cultural research. I study sharks—but I also study how we think about sharks, and how those beliefs shape their future. To save these animals, we must change the story the world tells about them.
MB: Are you hopeful that as people learn more, they will treat sharks with more respect, compassion, and dignity?
MMK: Absolutely. I remain deeply hopeful because I’ve seen transformations firsthand. I’ve watched children go from trembling at a shark photograph to becoming fierce shark ambassadors. I’ve seen communities shift local policy after learning how essential sharks are to the health of their waters.
I’ve seen divers changed forever by a single peaceful encounter with a gentle shark.
Knowledge dissolves fear. Compassion replaces misunderstanding. And empathy leads to protection. Sharks have survived five mass extinctions over more than 450 million years. Today, more than 530 species continue that legacy—but only if we choose to keep them here. Fear may be powerful, but fascination is stronger. And when fascination becomes stewardship, sharks finally have a fighting chance.
