Friendly fins and cartoon grins might change how we see sharks

Pictures, like words, can mold opinions. Psychology student Benjamin Krochman has "always had a soft spot for marine animals," thanks to photo-filled library books that introduced him to the wonders of sharks and whales as a child.

Now, he is researching whether cartoon art can help science communicators make a case for protecting oft-misunderstood sea creatures.

"I was thinking about how narrative influences the way we root for these animals," said Krochman, a fourth-year transfer student at Cal State Long Beach.

CSULB student Benjamin Krochman is a psychology major with a lifelong interest in marine life.

Krochman is leading a new phase of CSULB research uniting the Stress & Technology Applied Research (STAR) Lab and CSULB Shark Lab. Researchers have learned that people who appreciate the cognitive abilities of sharks and stingrays are more likely to favor conservation.

Now, Krochman wants to learn if cartoon-like shark mascots can improve the creatures' public image. Bears, for example, already benefit from good PR. Apex predators in the forest, they can also appear in the guise of Paddington and other friendly characters.

"We know that you would not want to get into an altercation with a bear, but we have in our culture the idea of a teddy bear," Krochman said.

Elbee has represented The Beach and its students since 2020.

Meeting in a controlled environment, Krochman shows volunteers photos of sharks, as well as cartoon versions like The Beach's own mascot - Elbee. He adds another dimension by providing some participants with data showing sharks do not pose much danger to humans. Others see an exaggerated risk profile.

Krochman asks all participants if they would donate to shark conservation, support pro-shark policies at the ballot box or want to learn more about the animals. The STAR and Shark labs have a shared goal of helping the public understand that sharks and stingrays are important to coastal ecosystems and worthy of protection.

Familiarity breeds respect

Research involving the STAR and Shark labs exists at an intersection between human and animal brains.

STAR Lab Director Gabriella Hancock was the lead author of a 2023 paper, published in Frontiers in Marine Science, revealing that when people have high opinions of sharks' and stingrays' abilities to make decisions, their enthusiasm for conservation goes up.

"The more people believe that they had the ability to think, to reason, to feel, the more willing they were to support their conservation," she said.

The 2023 paper was the first of its kind to query how perceptions of animals' cognitive abilities may influence views on conservation. It cites studies showing positive opinions of shark and stingray cognition can be well-founded. Yellow stingrays have exhibited learning abilities in the lab. In the wild, white sharks have been observed avoiding areas where they themselves are at risk from other predators.

CSULB researchers in 2024 published additional research in the same journal. This study showed people who have encountered sharks or stingrays in the ocean would be more likely to enter the water within a day of either animal being seen near the beach.

Outreach strategies

The notion of "swimming with sharks" is a common metaphor for danger, but Shark Lab Director Chris Lowe, also a co-author on research including STAR Lab, said real-life beachgoers are often near the animals without being in much trouble. In all of 2025, the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File tallied only 105 shark-versus-human bites for the entire planet.

The Shark Lab informs audiences that sharks are not mindless predators. Its Instagram profile has videos about baby sharks' tendency to migrate to warmer waters and sharks' dietary preferences for fish, squid and marine mammals - not humans.

"We're constantly referring to the fact that sharks are cognitive. They're making decisions," Lowe said. They're reducing that fear factor and getting people to be a little more open."

The Shark Lab also uses comic books, with realistic animal illustrations, to teach young readers about marine safety and ecology. If new research shows cartoonish sharks can be effective mascots, science communicators would have a new way of reaching audiences.

Krochman plans to follow up his bachelor's degree by completing a master's in human factors psychology at The Beach. He plans to focus on how technology can help people living with disabilities while continuing to research the psychology of habitat conservation.

"I've been super grateful just to be able to have access to conduct my own research, and that's an opportunity that Long Beach has given me," he said.

Plush toys at Aquarium of the Pacific show even white sharks and hammerheads can be portrayed as having a soft side.