UniSA researcher Brianna Le Busque reveals our greatest ocean fears

UniSA research reveals are our deepest, darkest fears of the open ocean – and it’s not what you think.

You would think that most people’s greatest fear of the ocean would be the wide open jaws of a great white shark.

But UniSA researchers have found that is not the case.

A university survey of 400 people found deep water, drowning and animals other than sharks, such as jellyfish, crabs and stingrays, topped the list of ocean fears.

Conservation psychologist Brianna Le Busque said she was “pleasantly surprised” to discover sharks were not the biggest concern.

“It’s promising to see that people’s fears are actually aligned with the statistical chance of these threats, given many more people drown per year compared to fatal shark interactions,” Dr Le Busque said.

The research revealed people were more afraid of jellyfish than sharks.

UniSA researcher and online course facilitator for psychology, Dr Brianna Le Busque, who also enjoys diving and surfing. Supplied.

The Australian Shark Attack File showed direct shark-human contact occurred just 23.3 times a year between 2012 and 2019, with an average of 1.9 fatalities.

By contrast, an average of 41 Australians drowned in ocean or harbour locations annually over the past decade, Royal Life Saving Australia data showed.

Dr Le Busque said the survey outcome was good news for shark conservation, as it indicated a shift in public perception from irrational fear to a more healthy attitude towards the creatures.

“We know that people are less likely to support conservation initiatives and more likely to support potentially harmful mitigation strategies if they fear sharks,” she said.

“To support shark conservation, we need to reduce the perception of risk sharks pose to better reflect reality.

“That’s not to say we need to get rid of this fear altogether, but we need the fear to be proportionate to the threat.”

Dr Le Busque, whose research focused on the psychology of shark conservation, said another interesting finding was that 22 per cent of respondents had seen a shark in the wild.

“This number was far higher than we expected,” she said, but added that it proved that “most sharks species are not known to harm humans”.

The research is published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences.