Before you enter the water, you may want to read these ten tips about sharks:

1.     International Students fear sharks as `Aussie-eaters of the sea`. Australia has a reputation of shark attacks. However attacks happen only very rarely, and the number of people killed in the last 100 years is `only` 32. , in comparison with three deaths from bee stings each year! (Shark Research Institute of Australia).

2.     Australia is the second most likely country to witness a shark attack, after the United States.

3.     Globally, in 2007 there was just one recorded fatal shark attack involving a swimmer in the South Pacific, a record low. In Australia 17 attacks were recorded (no fatal), up from two in 2006 and five in 2005.

4.     The last fatal shark attack in Australia was in April 2008 in Byron Bay, where a 16-year-old boy died after being bitten by a shark.

5.     More people are killed by bee stings than by shark attacks. More than 90% of people who are attacked by sharks survive the attack.

6.     There are about 350 different types of sharks, but researchers think there are more undiscovered sharks. The dwarf shark is as small as your hand, while the whale shark can be as large as a school bus! Only a few sharks are known to attack humans.

7.     Sharks never get cancer! Their cartilage is used in scientific studies with the hope of developing anti-cancer drugs.

8.     Sharks have been around for more than 300 million years, before dinosaurs!

9.     Sharks attack more men than women.

10. Tips about how to avoid a shark attack:

·        Do not swim in dirty or turbid water.

·        Avoid swimming well offshore, near deep channels, at river mouths or along drop-offs to deeper water.

·        If schooling fish start to behave strange, leave the water.

·        Do not swim with a dog or other animals.

·        Do not swim a dusk or at night.

·        Do not swim near people fishing.

·        Fight back when attacked, a number of people have hit sharks and got away.

·        If someone is attacked in shallow water near the coast: run in the water and make lot’s of noise to distract the shark.