Lindsay Lyon, the managing director of Shark Shield, said the  average for shark attacks is just 6.6 a year – and that’s around the world.

“The reality is they are rare,” Mr Lyon said.

“We give them lots of coverage but they’re rare. There are over 300 drownings at Australian beaches annually, but shark attacks are a rare occurrence.”

Mr Lyon, a surfer for four decades, said he tended not to think about sharks while he's in the water – except for the occasions when he was surfing alone, or early in the morning or late in the day.

“I have never seen a shark in 40 years of surfing,” he said.

“I think I might have seen shadows and I’ve certainly shat myself.

“But have I ever been bumped, had one swim by me or had some other sort of close encounter that you hear about all the time? No I haven’t.”

Despite knowing the long odds of being attacked, Mr Lyon is still hit with the fear of a shark attack.

It even caused him to stop using the theme from Jaws as his mobile phone ringtone because it started to unnerve him.

“It’s primal,” he said of our fear of sharks.

“Humans are in plague proportions on the planet because we are very good at recognising better predators and a shark is a better predator.

“It’s a primal fear, it’s not controllable. But it’s completely 100 per cent normal to have it.

“I suspect if you were walking through the jungle in Africa you would have it for lions and tigers.”

Mr Lyon said his products, which include one that attaches to a surfboard, were as much about quietening those inner fears as deterring sharks.

“The products about giving you peace of mind,” he said.

"It’s about enabling you to go back it the water and enjoy the sport without having that niggling doubt in the back of your head.

“It’s like driving a car with the seat belt on, you feel a little bit better.”