Reality Bites: Why Sharks Aren’t Always to Blame for Attacks

Shark season has begun, thanks to real-life dramas like this month’s run-in with a great white shark off the California coast, the buildup to TV extravaganzas like “Sharknado 2” and Shark Week, even the 40th anniversary of “Jaws.”

Reports show that shark populations are on the rise, so you can expect to hear a lot about big, bad sharks—but are they really all that bad?

“Having healthy shark populations is critical to having a healthy ocean,” Dean Grubbs, a shark researcher at Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory, told NBC News. “We know they play important roles in the ecosystem…”

Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News