9. Shark Attack
Most of what I know about Sharks I've gleaned from the movie Jaws and, frankly, death by shark attack looks pretty awful to me. That film freaked me out so much that afterwards I had to go and sleep in my parents' bed - I was 27 years old at the time. Now, whenever I take a transatlantic long-haul flight, I'm convinced the plane's going to crash into the sea (which is completely rational) and that I'm going to get eaten by Sharks (which is completely irrational). Over in Western Australia they have a much more understandable fear of shark attacks because, in the past 12 months, there have been eight recorded shark attacks, seven of them from great whites - the species upon which Jaws was based. The region has become known as the "shark attack capital" of the world. This upsurge in attacks has been attributed to the increased number of people going into the sea. That's why I stick to my local swimming pool: no running, no bombing, no petting and no shark attacks. I had a look at a website which offered helpful hints, tips and suggestions for avoiding a shark attack. The last one was as follows: "If an attack is imminent try to keep the shark in sight and if it gets too close then any action you take may disrupt the attack pattern, such as hitting the shark on the nose, gouging at its eyes, making sudden body movements, or blowing bubbles..." Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight... Good luck with that one.