But the sharks that can be found anywhere between the surface and 1,000ft below sea level attacked three humans in 2019, one more than in the previous sixty years combined. The Sunday Times report they have been recorded as attempting to attack great whites, whales and even nuclear submarines. Gavin Naylor, director of the shark research programme at the Florida Museum of Natural History explained: “They can look pretty pathetic, like a lazy sausage, but they can do a lot of damage.
“This is definitely the year of the cookiecutter.”
All three recorded victims survived and were long-distance swimmers.
Mr Naylor added: “I think what’s changed is that a lot more people are doing these long-distance, open-water swims; so statistically, the chance of these interactions goes up.”
The shark latch its lips upon prey and then uses a muscle underneath its tongue to create negative pressure in the mouth and eat like a hole puncher with its circular jaw.
The cookiecutter is capable of editing a bioluminescent glow which is thought to attract prey.
Mr Naylor added: They bring fast-moving tuna towards them and then at the last minute, so the story goes, bam! — the cookiecutter flips and clamps on to the fish and helps itself to a slice.”
Isaiah Mojica was swimming in the Hawaiian Ka’iwi Channel in April, when he was attacked, three weeks after another swimmer, Eric Schall.
Mr Monica was taking part in an open-water channel and was thus joined by two supported boats, one of which was fitted with a device that emits an electrical pulse in an attempt to repel sharks.
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Mr Mojica added: “I don’t hold anything against the shark, I knew the risks.
“It’s a weird place to be as far as elite groups go, but the more I think people can learn about these sharks and understand about them through my experience, it’s great.”
The cookiecutter can be found worldwide, usually in warm waters near islands.
They are thought to travel near vertically nearly 2 miles a day, approaching the surface at dusk and descending at dawn.
Mr Mojica was attacked at 1.00am.
They have around 30-37 tooth rows in the upper jaw and 25-31 in the lower jaw.
In the 1970s, several US Navy submarines had to be repaired after damage inflicted by cookiecutters.
Before the shark was identified as the cause, an unknown enemy weapon was feared.
Defence chiefs mitigated the issue by installing fibreglass around the sonar domes they tended to bite.