There are some researchers that actually free dive with great whites using nothing but a wetsuit. They have found the sharks to be pretty docile, but then again the divers are not using the usual 'research' method of using bait and chum to draw the sharks in looking for food.
The simple truth is that great whites in general don't really consider us a food target. Most shark attacks by great whites are caused by juveniles and generally target people that kind of looked like seals from their perspective (surfers in black wetsuits and the like). You can also tell they realized they made a mistake as they almost never follow up on their attacks on humans. Problem is though all it takes is that one bite for a person to bleed to death very quickly. Also in almost all cases the person who was attacked was at fault because they did not take the proper precautions.
This isn't to say there have not been exceptions, but they are extremely rare (2 in the last 100 years or so). So as long as you don't swim/surf in murky water, or at dusk or dawn, or near seals, the odds are more likely you will die from a plane crash then get attacked by a shark.
Also don't swim where there are bull sharks, as they do think you are food.
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