Could exposure to sharks reduce fear and boost conservation efforts?

In short:

An Adelaide University researcher is examining the link between exposure to sharks, fear and conservation efforts.

There are 500 species of sharks but globally their overall numbers have dropped by 70 per cent since the 1970s.

What's next?

The study will use virtual reality to see if it helps to encourage a more positive view of sharks.

There are quite a few objects on Juliana Gleaves's desk at Adelaide University that provide a clue into her PhD studies.

These include a figurine of Quint, the grizzled fisherman from the 1975 classic move Jaws, who sets out to catch the shark but ends up sliding into its gaping mouth.

While Ms Gleaves said the movie sparked her fascination with sharks, she conceded it was not great for their public relations.

This is despite shark numbers plummeting globally by more than 70 per cent since the movie was first released.

Conservation psychology

Her study is centred on conservation psychology and the first stage of research has found that those with better knowledge of sharks have less fear and were more likely to support efforts to save them.

Her research is ongoing, and will include looking at how movies and media reporting shape people's view of sharks.

Then virtual reality will see if an immersive indirect experience, giving people a chance to "swim" with sharks as they behave neutrally could help encourage more positive views of sharks and a public with more concern for their conservation.

Following Australia's fifth fatal shark attack for 2026 in Perth last month, the Western Australian fisheries minister ruled out a widespread cull, saying it would not be appropriate. However, she did issue a "catch and kill" order for the shark responsible. In 2025, there were five fatal attacks, with 23 shark bite incidents in total.

Realistic risk

Surfers Duncan Chamberlain and Mal Biscoe were not surprised that people who regularly used the ocean tended to be more realistic about the risk of shark attack.

At 74, Mr Chamberlain has been surfing for 54 years, heading out into the Southern Ocean from his hometown beach at Middleton, south of Adelaide, three or four times a week

Whenever he encounters sharks while out surfing, he enacts a 20-minute rule.

"You go in [to shore] for 20 minutes and you presume they're cruising along the coast, so they've moved on by then, so you go back out," Mr Chamberlain said.

"If you look at the statistics, you're in far more danger driving to the beach on the roads."

Risk and reward

Ms Greaves's initial study found that surfers were more likely to be concerned about sunburn than sharks.

Mal Biscoe, who has been surfing for more than 30 years and runs his own surf school, agreed with that finding.

As a firefighter who had just returned from fighting Canadian forest fires, assessing risk was something he did naturally.

For him there was no comparison between the risk of a shark encounter and the reward of surfing, and the physical and mental health benefits.

He estimated he had had about eight encounters with sharks over the years, either swimming under or around him or appearing off in the distance.

In the closest encounter, he said a harmless wobbegong shark had climbed onto the back of his mate while they were surfing.

"We had a laugh about it and then we're like, 'I wonder what scared it out of the water?' But I've never had an incident where I feel threatened."

Mr Biscoe said while some students did mention sharks when they came for lessons, he told them they were much more likely to step on a ray or that surfers were more likely to be injured by their own board than a shark.

While he was not sure that surfers might be more concerned with shark conservation over other species they encountered, he said he believed they were generally environmentally aware.

"I think surfers and people that live along the ocean are more concerned just about the natural environment itself, whether it be sharks or dolphins, whales or rays or just fish life," he said.