Conservation

Ok, we get it — sharks are rather frightening if you don’t know much about them. It all started back in 1975 when the first-ever blockbuster film JAWS debuted; people saw razor-sharp teeth munching on the beach, and the unsure feeling that something was lurking beneath stuck forever in their brains. Sharks quickly became a national symbol of fear. But what if we told you sharks aren’t as harmful as you may think; that we actually do much more harm to them than they do to us?

Here’s the graphic realization, folks: For every human killed by a shark, humans kill 200 million sharks.

Luckily there are conservation efforts out there, such as Project AWARE and Shark Angels that do everything in their power to stop the decreasing shark population and get the message out there: sharks need saving, too. How would you feel if a popular movie portrayed you as a monster killer? In reality, there are only an average of five shark-related deaths per year.

Here’s a gallery of some everyday items that actually kill more people per year than sharks. In fact, we guarantee there’s a good chunk of them in your home. Some of them may shock you, some may scare you, but hopefully they get you thinking. You’ll see: sharks aren’t so deadly after all.