Every year there is a story about a Great White spotting, and most of them turn out to be either Porbeagle or Mako sharks. But it would not be incongruent for Great Whites to be in UK waters. The temp is about right, we have a large seal population. They did track a Great White last year I think (or a couple of years ago) that was travelling across the Atlantic heading for Cornish waters. I think it got within about 60 miles of the coast before heading towards the Bay of Biscay though.
Indeed ... makos and blues sure enough but there has never been a confirmed sighting of a Great White and certainly nothing about Tigers in our waters to my knowledge ...
Phobias are irrational fears, certain sharks and snakes can kill you therefore shouldn’t be classed as a phobia.. clowns? Well John Wayne Gacy was a clown and a sick psychopathic ****.
That depends on the situation though surely? If a great white was swimming straight at me I’d be bricking it - rational. If I was in the water with a reef shark or a whale shark or something similarly as harmless and scared - irrational. In particular people who are afraid to go into the sea because they are too scared of sharks when the chance of being attacked is so low even in places that have **** loads of sharks. You’re unlikely to see one, unlikely to be attacked by one and if attacked unlikely to die. So I think it can count as a phobia. Similar to people scared of flying - it’s irrational. There’s a tiny chance of something going wrong and even if it does only a tiny chance it actually results in any fatalities. Both are statistically far less likely to happen than normal things that could harm or kill you.
There are always photos popping up with 'Great White shark spotted off Cornwall'. Most of them I can tell from an instant are Basking sharks. Some with the classic white belly are almost always Porbeagle or Mako sharks.
Heights when not strapped in. I'm perfectly comfortable thousands of feet in the air during a flight. It's being up high out in the open, I just think I'm going to fall to my death. My heart races, I sweat bucket loads and I'm gripped with a fear that's unfamiliar. Awful. This was where I really learned my lesson. I was 700ft in the air with a flimsy bar across keeping me and my daughter in. It wasn't tight to us in any way. I knew the camera was coming so for this split second I composed myself but my hands were so tightly gripped to that bar. I felt dizzy and weak when I came off. If my daughter wasn't there I honestly believe I might have just completely freaked out and it probably wouldn't have ended well for me.
I don’t like heights either. Problem is, your fears get worse with age as they are all “learned”. We’re born with two fears, loud noises and falling. The rest we embrace!