Selachophobia
Yesterday I was reading some stories that people had written in which they gave characters their own phobias. It was interesting to see what different people have irrational fears over. Some of them were pretty strange, such as the fear of lobsters. Some were oddly specific, like one person who fears seeing herself in the mirror without her contacts in because the reflection became so distorted it looked like a giant insect to her.
All this got me thinking last night, right before bed unfortunately, about my own fear of sharks. Honestly it is rather irrational, because I don't live near the ocean and shark attacks are so rare. More people are killed by hippos every year. In fact my mom had a friend who was killed by a hippo. I don't particularly want to go anywhere near hippos, but I don't have the same fear of them either.
Maybe it's because hippos are confined to one continent (as far as I know, and I could be very wrong), whereas sharks are everywhere. Not sure if many people are aware of this, but the book Jaws was based on a real shark attack, by a Bull shark, in a river in New Jersey.
Yes, that's right, certain sharks can swim from salt water to fresh water. The Bull shark is one of them, and it's actually considered by several experts to be the most dangerous shark based on the number of attacks. Bull sharks have been found in the Mississippi River as far north as (I think) Missouri.
That's terrifying.
To be honest, the ocean just kind of freaks me out. The idea that something can come at you from any direction.
Not always, but in certain situations, when I'm alone and overthinking things, deep ends of pools can also scare me. This part I at least realize is completely irrational. It's a pool. Full of chlorine. I am insane.
I don't know when the whole phobia started. I suspect it has something to do with a babysitter watching Jaws when I was very young. I remember hiding behind the couch for a lot of it. Heidi put it on recently, and while I watched most of it, there were certain parts I just couldn't sit through.
I haven't watched it in at least 15 years I imagine, but the movie E.T. also freaked me out as a child. Something about the beginning when E.T.'s out in the corn... still makes me uncomfortable to think about. Apparently Spielberg knows just how to play with my mind.
I do hold a certain amount of respect for sharks. They've been around forever and they're an important part of the ocean's balance and all that. I still watch some of Shark Week pretty much every year.
But I don't think I could ever go scuba diving, because if I found myself anywhere near a decent sized shark I think I'd just have a heart attack and die right there.
*Shudder*