Around 20% of men, and some 10% of women, would be willing to endure a shark attack for the bragging rights, according to a new survey.
A YouGov survey of 1,000 US adults which asked “if you knew you would survive without any long-term damage or ill effects, would you agree to be attacked by a shark for the cool story?” An average 15% said they’d be willing to give it a go.
The survey, undertaken on behalf of tourist agency Florida Panhandle also looked into respondents’ estimation of their chances of surviving a shark attack.
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People appear to be surprisingly optimistic about their chances of coming back from a fight with the ocean’s most feared predator.
But only 13% of the survey respondents were exactly right about the chance of surviving a shark attack – which is actually a surprisingly high 89.4%.
But that’s no consolation if you’re one of the unlucky ones.
Teenager Kaelah Marlow suffered "unsurvivable blood loss" from a "single massive bite,” when she was attacked by a great white shark off New Zealand’s Waihi Beach.
The 19-year-old was swimming with her pals between the flags around 100m offshore when she was suddenly attacked on January 7 last year.
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Her friends had decided to return to shore as they felt the current had become too rough, but Kaelah chose not to follow them.
At the time, lifeguards were monitoring the group and decided to use an inflatable rescue boat to check on the teen, who was spotted around about three or four hundred yards away from shore.
In an inquest on Wednesday (November 16), coroner Michael Robb ruled there was nothing more the lifeguards could have done to save her life due to the horrific injuries.
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According to the report, Kaelah didn't seem to be distressed or in "obvious difficulty" when the boat was launched.
However, she was suddenly attacked before the team caught up to her.
Her friend told the coroner that she feared that Kaelah had become trapped in a rip as she noticed her "panicking."
"Kaelah was really panicking and waving her arm around in the water before being pulled into the boat," the friend added.
Kaelah was heard yelling "shark" as the lifeguards managed to reach her.
The report added that one of the lifeguards “saw lots of blood in the water and the woman was yelling that she had been bitten by a shark."
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