WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Swim in the ocean and many swimmers sense dark objects under them. Breathe in the open water and many swimmers imagine that they saw a fin at one point. Bump into something away from shore and the hearts of most swimmers skip a few beats.

Sharks – aka The Man in the Gray Suit, Mack, Old Toothy, Garbage Can of the Sea or The Landlord – strikes fear in the hearts of open water swimmers like nothing else.

But more danger lurks in most American neighbors than in any ocean.

It is a fact that every year, dogs kill more people in America than Great White sharks have in the past 100 years.

So while open water swimmers rightly and understandably fear sharks, a swimmer is statistically more likely to be killed by a dog than by a shark and is statistically much more likely to be bitten by a dog than bitten by a shark.

Reported by OMG Facts.

Copyright © 2010 by World Open Water Swimming Association