When sharks attack, they know what the target is
Much of the discussion regarding recent shark attacks wants them let off the hook because said attacks are taken to be cases of mistaken identity.
A recent report in The Economist (Dec. 14) of an article in animal cognition indicates that they do indeed know what they do. Sharks observed approaching humans in hundreds of experimental encounters approached from behind in four-fifths of trials, implying that there was no question in the animal’s mind what the target was.
Robert Sine
Kihei