I think you're right about the choices of boys versus girls.

Part of that (I suspect) comes down to the perception of toughness. Sharks are mega tough and formidable, at least that's the image the media tends to push. Rambos of the sea.

Sort of like T Rex is the top dinosaur as far as little boys are concerned. That's why most of the girls wouldn't choose to be sharks. Tough, ruthless, dangerous-they tend to be macho images.

Overall, I suspect most people think we have more traits in common with dolphins than we do with sharks. We read tales of dolphins working in groups or doing amazing things. Plus of course they don't generally eat us so there is much less fear of them. Fear of anything is an enormous thing, it shapes attitudes. People are more inclined to kill a spider than a butterfly.

I know humans kill a wide range of creatures but on the whole, we tend to like animals that like us. Dogs, horses, cats etc and have far less concern for creatures that are radically different eg fish, insects.

Most other creatures are a bit the same way too, prefer their own kind.

Sometimes I worry about extra terrestrials. If there ever are any who wander into our path, we'd better pray they have a lot in common with us.

Asking children to empathise or put themselves into the position of another can be an interesting exercise but at a conference I attended years ago, they mentioned that children just cannot conceptually do it at all before the age of about 7 and after that, it's a developing skill. Young children see most things in terms of self and how they relate to the world. The brain apparently is still developing till at least age 12 and beyond.