Lindsay Lyon knows the power of the theme from the movie Jaws.
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The managing director of Shark Shield – an electronic shark deterrent – he thought it’d be funny to use that theme as the ringtone on his mobile phone.
“After about four or five months I had to take it off because I’d stopped surfing,” he laughed.
“I’ve got Hawaii 5-0 now.”
Mr Lyon is touring the country giving presentations about the myths and realities of sharks.
That the Jaws theme on his phone frightened him out of the water for months is an indication of what can happen when sharks are constantly placed at the forefront of your mind.
He said social media and smartphones are doing a similar job of keeping sharks in the public consciousness.
“Twenty years ago, if you hopped in your boat and went fishing off the coast of Wollongong with a few mates and a big shark came up along the side of your boat, you’d all be screaming and yelling,” Mr Lyon said.
“You’d come back and tell a few mates at the pub and 10 or 15 people would hear about it.
“Now you pull out your smartphone, take a video and post it on Instagram, Facebook or YouTube and about 5 million people see it.”
This intense focus on sharks has created an “unnecessary” fear of the creatures, which is out of proportion with the actual danger.
While he said the number of shark fatalities in Australian has seen a statistical “bump” in the last year, on average around the world there are just 6.6 fatalities each year.
By comparison, he said more than 300 Australians drowned at the beaches each year.
If you’re a swimmer, Mr Lyon said there’s virtually nothing to fear from sharks
“At your local surf life-saving swim-between-the-flags beaches you’re extremely safe,” he said.
“For the average swimmer who is at their patrolled surf live-saving beach, the chance of a shark bite in this country is zero to none. Eighty per cent of the fatalities - this is on a global scale and it would bear true in Australia - from oceangoers are from two groups. They’re either divers or surfers.”
He said those two groups tend to be victims of fatalities because they surf or dive in secluded areas which are some distance from medical help.
Mr Lyon will be visiting Wollongong on October 29 to talk all things sharks. To attend of for more details email lindsay.lyon@sharkshield.com