Unprovoked Shark Attacks: Florida No. 1 … Again

GAINESVILLE, FL — The folks at the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File have crunched the numbers related to shark attack reports made in 2016. The good news is that the total number of unprovoked shark attacks across the globe dropped year over year. The bad news is that the number of people in Florida who’ve managed to have run-ins with the toothy creatures tops the list nationally and internationally.

All told, the folks at UF investigated 150 reports of shark attacks across the globe in 2016. Only 81 of those reports stood up to the organization’s measuring stick for “unprovoked attacks.” That number is down from the 98 unprovoked attacks logged in 2015.

The International Shark Attack File defines unprovoked attacks as those that occur “in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation,” according to its website. Provoked attacks are defined as those that happen when a person “initiates physical contact with a sharl, e.g. a diver bitten after grabbing a shark, attacks on spearfishers and those feeding sharks.”

See also: Shark Attacks: What Are The Odds?

The 69 attacks that didn’t make the cut for unprovoked status in 2016 included 37 provoked attacks, 12 attacks on boats, seven that ended up not involving a shark at all and one involving postmortem bites, among others.

The 81 bona fide unprovoked attacks tracks well with numbers recorded in recent years. The average is 82 unprovoked incidents a year. The numbers logged in 2015, however, represented the highest on record at 98.

The number of attacks in North American waters once again topped the world in 2016. A total of 53 of the unprovoked attacks were logged in the United States, but there were no reported fatalities in the U.S. or North America, UF noted in its 2016 report.

Florida led the nation and the world in unprovoked attacks with 32 bites recorded in 2016. That number was up from the 30 bites recorded in 2015. The highest number of recorded unprovoked bites came out of Volusia County with 15. Other counties to witness attacks were as follows:

• Duval County – 4
• Brevard County – 3
• St. Johns County – 3
• Indian River – 2

Pinellas, Flagler, Lee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties each had one unprovoked attack.

Outside of Florida, U.S. attacks were recorded as follows:

• Hawaii – 10
• California – 4
• North Carolina – 3
• South Carolina – 2

Texas and Oregon each had one attack.

While no fatal attacks were recorded in the U.S., that wasn’t the case worldwide. Four fatal unprovoked attacks were confirmed in 2016. There were two fatalities in Australia and two in New Caledonia, according to UF.

While Florida’s 2016 attacks added up to 32, that number didn’t break the state’s record. The record high was 37, recorded in 2000.

While the number of shark attacks might seem alarming, George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, said the likelihood of being attacked remains low.

“Shark attacks in general are really a nonentity when we think of causes of mortality involved with humans,” Burgess said in a previous interview. “It’s a lot more dangerous driving to the beach.”

Staying Safe in the Water

The odds are against a Florida beachgoer becoming a victim of a shark attack, but that doesn’t mean commonsense shouldn’t be used in the water, Burgess said.

“The sharks are swimming in and amongst us all the time,” he said. “They’re doing their thing.”

To avoid attacks, Burgess recommends people always remember the fact that humans are not part of a shark’s ecosystem.

“We’re invading their world,” he said. “We’ve got to have some boundaries. (The ocean) is not a backyard or the YMCA pool.”

People can also help themselves by:

• Not swimming at dusk, dawn or at night
• Not swimming where people are fishing, where fish are schooling or where seabirds are feeding
• Taking off shiny jewelry before getting in the water
• Hitting the shark on the nose, or clawing at the eyes or gills if attacked

For more information, visit the International Shark Attack File online.

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