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Shark Attack Facts |
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Myth and reality: the truth about shark attacks
Of the over 450 species of shark, very few are considered to be potentially dangerous to man. Incidents of people being bitten by sharks are extremely rare – yet ignorance and sensationalism has caused the JAWS myth to be widely perceived as reality. These pages provide accurate information on shark incidents, risk, occurrence, avoidance and information on where to find the most up to date information.
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Statistics and Victims
Worldwide in the period between 1990 and 2005 there were, on average, 54 reported shark attacks each year. However, incidents in developing countries are often unreported and so consequently worldwide there are probably between 75 and 100 incidents each year, of which 10-15 may be fatal.
Negative interactions between humans and sharks are rare. For example, in 2000, there were only 23 ‘attacks’ (with no fatalities) on the 264 million people who entered the water at 68 United States beach monitored by the U.S. Lifesaving Association. In contrast over the same period of time there were 132 fatalities at the same beaches due to drowning or other causes.
The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) is internationally recognised as the definitive source of scientifically accurate information on shark attacks and according to their 2005 Shark Attack Summary:
Shark attacks have generally declined worldwide over the past five years. Likely reasons include:
1. Fewer sharks in the water. Worldwide overfishing of elasmobranchs (sharks and their relative, the skates and rays) has left many populations at critically low levels. Nearshore sharks are the most affected because they are easily captured and are highly sought for their flesh and especially for their fins, which fetch a high sale price and are exported to the Orient, where they are used in shark fin soup, an expensive delicacy. The nearshore area is where humans most often enter the sea.
2. Fewer people in the water in traditional high shark-human contact areas. Post-9/11 slow-downs in local economies and reticence in some circles to engage in air travel in the US resulted in tourism declines in some regions, reducing the number of tourists entering the sea. Meteorological conditions also have played a role - the large number of tropical storms that battered Florida and other U.S. east coast states in 2004 and 2005 significantly reduced the amount of time spent in the water by humans in these areas. Since Florida annually has more attacks than any other region in the world, the large drops in number of attacks in this region during 2004-2005 is reflected in the worldwide totals in these years.
3. Humans may be getting smarter reducing their interactions with sharks. Media coverage of sharks has been high over the past decade with a plethora of television and print stories detailing the "do's and don’ts" involved in reducing shark-human interactions. It is possible that those engaged in marine aquatic recreation (and beach safety personnel charged with their oversight in many areas of the world) are doing a better job of avoiding high risk areas and times, thereby reducing chance meetings between sharks and humans.
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