Research, which has been published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, suggests that sharks mistake humans for seal prey.

 Shark attack on humans have long fascinated the general public but have remained a source of confusion for scientists. This is due to the fact that they often bite, but do not subsequently eat, their human targets.

 To help unlock this mystery, a team from Macquarie University, in collaboration with the University of Bristol created a virtual white shark visual system. Videos of human and seal movements filmed from below the water’s surface were then processed in with this system to see visual motion and shape cues through the perspective of a white shark.

Read the full University of Bristol press release