National Shark Awareness Day Is Not About Fear

With about a month to go until Shark Week, take today to make yourself aware of the underwater beast.

According to The Discovery Channel, today is “Shark Awareness Day,’’ which seems to be a day to look at sharks in a more positive light than they are normally portrayed.

Discovery Channel actually wishes their readers a “Happy Shark Awareness Day!’’

Smithsonian has a 45-minute documentary about “Shark Girl,’’ about 20-year-old Madison Stewart, who doesn’t fear sharks, but instead tries to protect these “misunderstood creatures.’’

Your odds of being attacked by a shark are actually 1 in 11.5 million, according to research by the International Shark Attack File.

Negative stereotypes and images of sharks have prompted groups like The Pew Charitable Trusts to “raise awareness about the global decline of sharks, their importance to healthy marine ecosystems, and their benefit to local economies.’’

In an effort to “show sharks in a different light,’’ The Discovery Channel even listed some fun facts:

– “A great white shark can roll its eyes into the back of its head for protection when attacking prey.’’

– “In rare cases, female sharks can give birth without mating, a form of reproduction called parthenogenesis.’’

– “The dwarf lanternshark is the world’s smallest shark; it is smaller than a human hand.’’

– “A great white shark named Nicole swam 12,400 miles — across an entire ocean and back — over a 9-month period.’’

Though not as popular as Shark Week, #SharkAwarenessDay is swimming on Twitter:

Happy #SharkAwarenessDay! Spread the word about these 450 million year old fish that are now becoming endangered! pic.twitter.com/KONWaaLAy4

— Jeff Corwin (@iamjeffcorwin) July 14, 2014

Did you know this is #SharkAwarenessDay? Here's a thought: watch them live! http://t.co/0jBQofBE7H pic.twitter.com/gQ9FIFJscN

— Monterey Aquarium (@MontereyAq) July 14, 2014

Today is #Shark Awareness Day and @SharkGirlMadi has a message for you: http://t.co/rV7xtfF6tR pic.twitter.com/7LoW7xMURv

— Smithsonian Channel (@SmithsonianChan) July 14, 2014

Before the dinosaurs, sharks were already swimming in the ocean. Happy #Shark Awareness Day!

— WWF (@WWF) July 14, 2014

Happy #SharkAwarenessDay! Take the AWARE Shark Conservation Diver Distinctive Specialty course http://t.co/9C6m9K4u8G pic.twitter.com/nq9RGAU7cq

— Project AWARE (@projectaware) July 14, 2014

#SharkAwarenessDay We should all be more aware that skates, rays, sawfish, guitarfish, etc are essentially flat sharks that need love too

— Shark Advocates (@SharkAdvocates) July 14, 2014

Today is Shark Awareness Day! Did you know #sharks never get cavities? http://t.co/Wc4Db9Z0Rx

— The Smile Generation (@smilegen) July 14, 2014