Lay your shark fears to rest.
OCEARCH describes itself as a global non-profit organization with a mission to return balance to the ocean.
The group started its work in 2007 and has tagged 432 animals over 43 expeditions to date. They offer most of this data to the public through their real-time shark tracker.
Each animal is named and has its photo taken when tagged (so you can pick favorites). The trackers send out a satellite ping whenever the animal surfaces.
According to Parks and Wildlife, roughly 40 different shark species roam the Texas coastline.
Many of these species are apex predators in their respective food webs and are crucial to maintaining balanced ecosystems in the earth’s oceans. At a glance, they seem terrifying.
However, the likelihood of an unprovoked shark attack is slim to none. There have only been 44 of these attacks (confirmed) in Texas since 1911.
The average person has a 1 in 11.5 million chance of being bitten by a shark, and a 0 in 264.1 million chance of the attack becoming a fatality.
Divers swim with sharks all the time!
