Are sharks attracted by menstrual discharge?
Over the course of their periods, most women lose between 50 to 150 ml (one-quarter to three-quarters cup) of blood and tissue. While this is not a physiologically significant amount, many women fear that this discharge may attract sharks. The truth is that women divers are attacked by sharks less often than men are. In his book Diving and Subaquatic Medicine, Dr. Carl Edmonds suggests that this may in part be due to a repellent effect of some component of the menstrual blood that is released. While this has not been formally tested, it is fair to say that the danger of shark attack from diving during one’s period is substantially less than what results from other activities, such as spearfishing.
