You know the song, it starts out slow, daa-na….daa-na, then increases in pace, da-na..da-na..da-na.  At this point you know what’s coming.  A great big shark is making it’s way straight towards you!

A diver swims with great white sharks. Credit: solarseven | Shutterstock.com

What started as a background music to get your blood pumping for thriller movies like Jaws has jumped from the big screen to the small.  Scary, ominous music is more often than not featured alongside sharks in nature documentaries and according to a new study, it’s taking it’s toll.

“It’s making people feel unjustly terrified of sharks, and these negative feelings are likely hindering efforts to save and protect the magnificent fish, a new study finds.”

In the study, “Researchers showed 2,100 people a 60-second video clip of sharks that was either silent or set to ominous or uplifting music. People who watched the “frightening” music clip tended to rate sharks more negatively compared with people who watched the video with uplifting music or silence, they found.”

This finding is concerning, as most people view documentaries as educational, and may not be aware that these so-called objective shows are actually eroding their feelings toward sharks, said study lead researcher Andrew Nosal.

You can read more about the study, and read the original article over on livescience.com!