Famous last words, "Hey now watch this!"

A provoked shark attack may be defined as any physical contact with a human by a shark that was apparently precipitated by the former cornering, pursuing, striking, grabbing, spearing, hooking, shooting, or otherwise molesting the latter. Since any wild animal will defend itself if stricken, provoked shark attacks reflect poorly on the decision-making abilities of the human 'victim' and reveal little useful information about the motivation of an attacking shark. To deliberately provoke any shark – no matter how small or harmless it may seem – is at best unnecessary and at worst highly dangerous. To deliberately provoke a large, free-swimming White Shark can only be described as colossally stupid.