This Shark Week, the seals of the world would like to take a moment to remind you that appearance isn’t everything. Scary-looking creatures might not actually be that much of a threat to you. Adorable ones are not necessarily as cuddly as they let on.
The point of this is not that you should — OMG — fear the seals. (Some of them do attack humans, but it’s pretty rare.) Instead, it’s just a helpful reminder that the narratives we tell ourselves about what certain animals are like do not always align with what actually goes down in the real world.
Both sharks and seals are predators. We fear one and want to snuggle the other, but that has more to do with body fat distribution, large eyes versus small ones, and (of course) pop culture and less to do with anything innate to the animal, itself. In reality, the sharks aren’t out to get you any more than the seals are.
Image via 9Gag and David Shiffman