They get a bad rap in the movies but just dangerous are they really? Laura, Ellie and Jasmin compare human-shark interactions to other – seemingly less dangerous – activities, and talk about shark behaviour as well as their senses and evolutionary history to figure out their tactics for swimming with sharks.

Read more:

• London’s Natural History Museum for a selection of sharkey facts
• NOAA fisheries for some more fun facts
• The Australian Institute of Marine Science for data on shark attacks and deaths by falling coconuts
• News from the BBC on cocaine sharks
• Statistics from Florida museum about sharks attacking people
• News from the Smithsonian about sharks being scared of orcas
• News from IFL Science about sharks making friends