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Fatal shark attacks hit a 20-year low in 2007 mongabay.com February 13, 2008
The single death of a swimmer in the South Pacific represented the fewest casualties from shark attacks since 1987, when no one was killed by sharks. "It's quite spectacular that for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide spending hundreds of millions of hours in the water in activities that are often very provocative to sharks, such as surfing, there is only one incident resulting in a fatality," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File housed at UF’s Florida Museum of Natural History. "The danger of a shark attack stays in the forefront of our psyches because of it being drilled into our brain for the last 30 years by the popular media, movies, books and television, but in reality the chances of dying from one are infinitesimal." "Falling coconuts kill 150 people worldwide each year," he added.
Despite lower numbers of fatal attacks overall attacks have been rising over the past 4 years. "One would expect there to be more shark attacks each year than the previous year simply because there are more people entering the water," Burgess said. "For baby boomers and earlier generations, going to the beach was basically an exercise in working on your suntan where a swim often meant a quick dunking. Today people are engaged in surfing, diving, boogie boarding and other aquatic activities that put them much closer to sharks." Due to warm waters and the popularity of ocean activities, Florida led the world in shark attacks again in 2007 with 32. Hawaii was second with seven. Fifty-six percent of the 2007 victims were surfers and wind surfers; followed by swimmers and waders, 38 percent; and divers and snorkelers, 6 percent. Burgess said that advances in medical treatment, greater attention to beach safety practices and increased public awareness about the danger of shark attacks are likely reasons that fatalities from shark attacks continue to fall. At 7.6 percent, the shark attack fatality rate for the 21st century has been lower than the 12.3 percent recorded for the 1990s. Overfishing has also diminished the abundance of larger shark species that are more likely to inflict life-threatening bites to humans. News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo! Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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