As Shark Week Looms, PETA Reminds Tampa Bay: ‘Humans are the Deadliest Predators’

For Immediate Release:
July 20, 2026

Contact:
Hannah Nelson 202-483-7382

Before TV’s Shark Week fuels another round of misplaced hysteria, PETA is serving up a reality check near restaurants serving fish and other sea animals in Tampa Bay: Humans, not sharks, are the ocean’s most dangerous predators. The jaw-dropping message urges Floridians to spare sea life and all animals from a violent death by going vegan.

Every year, more than 100 million sharks—and trillions of other animals—are killed by humans, while there were 12 confirmed shark-related human fatalities worldwide in 2025. Meanwhile, Florida—the so-called “Shark Attack Capital of the World”—recorded 11 shark bites. Scientists estimate that more than 650,000 marine mammals, including dolphins, whales, and porpoises—as well as millions of sea turtles, birds, seals, and other “nontarget” fish—are seriously injured or killed by commercial fishing practices annually.

“Between commercial fishing, shark finning, and human-driven habitat loss, sharks have far more to fear from us than we ever will from them,” says PETA Founder Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to sea the truth and help protect ocean life by going vegan.”  

Sharks are complex beings with unique personalities who feed mostly on smaller fish and invertebrates, and have no interest in interacting with humans, much less harming them. In fact, on average, beachgoers face a 1 in 3,300 chance of drowning compared to a 1 in 4.3 million chance of being killed by a shark bite. But every year, millions of sharks are hunted by humans for their flesh, internal organs, and skin.

PETA’s ad can be found on Tyrone Boulevard in Bay Pines.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment”—points out that when it comes to the ability to feel pain, hunger, and fear, a shark is a dog is a boy. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.