A shark swimming. © Mote Marine Laboratory   Why Care About Sharks? A Predator with Bad Press Fearsome-looking creatures, sharks have never won any popularity contests. Four hundred million years ago the basic body plan of a successful predator evolved, and sharks have stuck with it with little modification. For example, the shape of the 15-meter long whale shark, which strains plankton and small fish through its gill rakers, and of the half-meter-long cookiecutter shark, which takes small bites from whales and large fish, are essentially the same. Most modern-day shark families had already evolved 100 million years ago, when dinosaurs lived on earth. Exquisitely adapted to every ocean habitat, from shallow estuaries to the deepest abyss, sharks are a real survivor group. Sharks figure prominently in the ancient myths and legends of many Pacific sea-based cultures, where they are often revered as gods or other mystical beings. In contrast, sharks have only become prominent in Western art and literature within the last few centuries, and here they are characterized almost exclusively as predatory monsters, as anyone who’s seen Jaws can testify. However, even in a particularly bad year, only about 100 people are bitten by sharks worldwide, and less than 15% of these attacks are fatal.      1 of 10