Above: A human prey in water barely fends off a shark attack during a surfing competition.
Below: Human prey have the upper hand, and upper ground, in helping this Great White shark beached in Cape Cod.
Is it as simple as the shark having the upper fin in the water and the human having the upper hand on land? The symmetry does not extend, however, to going beyond killing, for only the human feels and can act on compassion. To save an animal that could quite literally turn around and bite the person in the ass is either extremely foolish or incredibly selfless, or perhaps a little of both. If foolish only, the shark comes off looking superior, but if a value beyond mere survival is invoked, such as in the notion of agape, or self-emptying love, then the human being can rightly claim superiority.