This story annoys me mainly because it’s reinforcing a false perception of one of my favorite apex predators. Elissa Sursara, an “environmental activist”, claimed to have been attacked by a shark last September. A small grey shark (how specific). The slightest inspection of the image she posted on her Instagram of the resulting bite would reveal it’s clearly fake. The perfect semi-circular wound is anything but typical for such an injury according to The Best Shark Dive in the World blog. They even included the nifty graphic below that breaks down the actual image. When confronted about her suspected lies – Elissa claims innocence, the Daily Mail clearly misquoted her!
“I saw a flash of grey in the water and then I felt a bit of pressure on my torso – that’s when I realized I had been bitten,” Sursara said, describing the attack. “I knew it was a shark. As quick as I could I just thrashed, so I was punching what was biting me.”
Um, that’s quite the mouthful of a misquote. You can read more about this accused liar over at Inquisitr. She blabbers on about how sharks are “harmless”. While I wouldn’t go that far – they certainly aren’t the monsters the general public believes them to be.
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