Unprovoked shark attacks increased slightly worldwide last year, but twice as many people died from shark bites as the year before, new data show.
The University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File shows that there were 69 unprovoked shark attacks in 2023, which is more than the five-year average of 63 assaults per year. According to analysts, there were ten fatal attacks in 2023, compared to just five the year before. Director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program, Gavin Naylor, remarked, “Though the fatalities are a little unnerving this year, this is within the range of the normal number of bites.”
Australia suffered a disproportionate number of shark bite deaths, the researchers noted. The continent accounted for 22% of all attacks but made up 40% of fatalities. Other shark attack deaths occurred in the United States, the Bahamas, Egypt, Mexico and New Caledonia, researchers said. The United States had 36 unprovoked shark attacks, accounting for 52% of incidents worldwide. Of those, two attacks were fatal, one in California and another in Hawaii. As has been the case in previous years, Florida had more shark bites than any other state, with 16 attacks.
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The Global Shark Bites
Confirmed non-fatal bites also happened in Costa Rica, Colombia, Brazil, New Zealand, the Seychelles, the Turks and Caicos, Ecuador and South Africa. This annual report focuses primarily on unprovoked attacks, although the database documents all bites by sharks on humans. Provoked attacks include intentionally approaching a shark or swimming in an area where bait is being used to lure fish, researchers said. Three of 2023’s fatalities occurred at one remote surfing destination, the Eyre Peninsula off the coast of southern Australia. That area is known for phenomenal surf breaks, making it a hard-to-access but alluring spot for surfers. Unfortunately, the region is also home to seal colonies and loads of white sharks, researchers said. “If a white shark is going after a seal and the seal knows it, the white shark hasn’t got a chance,” Naylor explained in a museum news release. “Seals are really agile, so the only ones that get caught are the ones that are goofing off and flopping around on the surface, minding their own business. And that’s kind of what a surfer looks like.”
The Global Shark Bites
Australia also has bull sharks in and around its tidal rivers, and a death from a bull shark attack occurred in early 2023 at the salty mouth of a river near the coast. “Australian beach safety is unparalleled. According to Joe Miguez, a PhD candidate in the Florida Program for Shark Research, “They’re amazing.” However, there is a greater chance of a deadly shark attack if you travel to isolated areas without beach safety measures. This is so that a tourniquet may be applied sooner and a person’s life can be saved in the event of an attack where beach safety is in place, Miguez continued. Thus, he concluded, “The solution isn’t to not surf.” “It’s to surf in regions with well-established beach safety initiatives.” “Test bites” are the majority of unprovoked attacks in which a shark misidentifies a human as its preferred meal, such as a seal.
The Global Shark Bites
Rarer incidents where a shark continues biting a human rather than swimming away have been documented with tiger sharks, bull sharks and white sharks. One of 2023’s fatalities involved such a scenario, with a tiger shark along the banks of the Red Sea in Egypt. “The bite in Egypt stood out because a video shows a tiger shark taking multiple passes at a human in the water. Even though predation events are exceedingly rare, it’s pretty clear that’s what it was,” Miguez said. Despite the increase in shark bites, researchers say the number of bites and deaths that occurred in 2023 is within the average for the past decade.
The Global Shark Bites
Each year, there are consistently fewer than 100 unprovoked bites globally. That means that it’s still more likely you’ll win the lottery than be bitten by a shark, the researchers noted. An increase in shark attacks often means that more people are spending time in the water, rather than some dramatic change in shark behavior, Miguez said.
The Global Shark Bites
Something as simple as a holiday weekend falling on a particularly hot day can contribute to a spike in shark bites, and that can be further exacerbated by large schools of fish in a particular area. That combination led to the first known shark attack in New York City in more than half a century, researchers said. Improved water quality has led to more fish in the waters off New York, which often means more sharks. “It causes a lot of fear, but the reality is you’re putting a lot of people in the water on a hot day with bait fish in the water,” Naylor said.
The Global Shark Bites
Even though the odds of a shark attack are low, researchers said people can take further precautions:
- Stay close to shore.
- Don’t swim at dawn or dusk.
- Avoid excessive splashing.
- Swim with a buddy, as sharks are more likely to approach solitary figures.
- Remove shiny jewelry that can be mistaken for fish scales.
The Global Shark Bites
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