SWIMMERS frantically scrambling for the safety of the sand at the sound of a wailing shark siren are a familiar sight on Australian beaches.

　　But while fear of a shark attack may haunt Australian beachgoers as they dip their toes in the oceans that surround their nation, for "shark whisperer" Ian Gordon taunting a massive Great White Shark to attack is all in a day's work.

　　Despite 23 years spent swimming with some of the ocean's most feared marine animals in a bid to understand their behaviour, Gordon admits that predicting how a shark will react is still tricky.

　　"For many people, the old adage is 'the only predictable thing about sharks is they're unpredictable'," said Gordon.

　　"I find their behaviour fairly predictable compared to most people, but the reality is, I'm human and they're a shark," said the rugged 46-year-old Australian shark behavouralist.

　　Mental strength and a healthy dose of luck are essential when studying shark attacks, a process usually accomplished by provoking the creature to the point where it head-butts its human observer or makes a mock attack run.

　　This is definitely not an exercise for any amateur shark fanatic, warns Gordon, who often leaves his chain mail protective suit at home when underwater and dispenses with life insurance.

　　"We put ourselves so to speak in harms way to dissect or analyze attacks, by getting a shark to physically attack us we can understand a little bit more about the animal," said Gordon, who sports shark "love bite" scars.

　　Underwater wrestling

　　A member of a shark biology group called the American Elasmobranch Society, Gordon swam with sharks around the world for Discovery Channel's "Shark Gordon" series and recently made headlines in Australia when he lured a Great White measuring over 4 metres (12 feet) from a pen holding 100 nervous tuna.

　　Wrestling the animal may have been an option, but Gordon instead cut a hole in the net and used shark psychology to coax the Great White through the gap and back into open water.

　　"I could have caught it, put a rope around it, tired it out. I could have done all sorts of things that would have been good camera opportunities, up close and personal with a one ton, 4 metre (12 feet) shark which could hold three of me," said Gordon.

　　"But that wasn't the best thing for the shark and certainly, potentially wasn't the best thing for the people around me."

　　But sometimes Gordon has no choice but to go head-to-head with a massive Great White. Venturing out of a protective cage to test drive an electric shark repellant device on a Great White in early 1990s was one task that required nerves of steel.

　　Positioning himself for a head-on attack, Gordon was given strict instructions to only flick the switch on the electric shield when the huge shark was no more than two metres away.

　　"We hadn't really planned what to do if it didn't work, I would have tried to duck very fast I'd imagine," said Gordon.

　　"The Great White shark was aware we had a 'sting' so to speak and decided to leave us alone," the father of three added.

　　Fascinated by sharks since a visit to an aquarium as a teenager, Gordon began working with the creatures at a Sydney marine park before going on to run shark diving tours in South Australia after graduating to fund his field research.

　　Now his bills are paid by professional research groups and Gordon claims to spend most of his time underwater with sharks while other experts study them from the safety of their desks.

　　Snacking

　　Gordon believes the Great White, searedsintosthe minds of movie goers around the world by Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" movie, rightly deserves its reputation as potentially the most dangerous shark swimming the world's oceans.

　　But while the predator, which can grow up to 6.8 metres (20 feet) long, may be credited with killing more humans than any other shark, its fearsome reputation far outweighs the number of attacks.

　　The University of Florida's International Shark Attack File shows 60 unprovoked shark attacks were recorded in 2002, lower than the 72 in 2001 and 85 in 2000. Only three people around the world were registered on the file as killed by sharks in 2002. Out of those, only one in Australia was caused by a Great White.

　　Gordon says brave swimmers and divers can take a dip with a well-fed Great White and live to tell the tale, particularly in spots awash with their favourite snacks such as seals.

　　"We're splitting hairs, you might get bitten, but it's not because the shark thinks you're a seal," said Gordon.

　　Despite the Great White's chilling reputation, lesser-known sharks such as the aggressive Tiger or the stout and fairly common Bull Shark that lives in Australia's rivers and tropical waters can pose an equally serious threat to humans.

　　But anyone scared to gosintosthe water can still take comfort from the fact bee stings cause more fatalities every year than the great predators of the deep.