Influencers risk shark bites for perfect photo
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The reading
Many people do their best to take the perfect photograph. In particular, influencers are trying hard to do this. They want all their fans and followers to see their photos. Some influencers are risking their lives by swimming with and touching sharks. Naturally, things can go wrong. One example of this is a rise in the number of people bitten by sharks. The host of the Shark Bytes YouTube channel, Kristian Parton, says he is worried. He is hearing about "way more" shark attacks than ever before. He warned: "We're talking about a true apex predator – a very large wild animal." He added: "You wouldn't walk into the Serengeti [on safari] and try to put your hand on the face of a lion."
Shark experts are warning influencers to stay away from sharks. They point to a number of stories of people trying to photograph sharks and then getting injured or killed. Last year, a woman in the Caribbean had both hands bitten off when she tried to take a photo of a bull shark. Her husband tried to protect her. He called the incident a "living nightmare". Two months later, an influencer was killed in Israel. He was trying to feed the sharks to get them to come closer, but they attacked him. The shark experts said the influencers are sending a dangerous message to their followers. They said this was because the followers might think it is safe to touch or even try to ride sharks.
Sources:
- https://metro.co.uk/2026/08/16/influencers-putting-lives-jeopardy-perfect-shark-snap-29391762/
- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/16/influencers-attacked-by-sharks-while-trying-to-take-selfies/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yvrn7rpqpo
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