The US, with its abundant, populated coastline, led the world in unprovoked attacks with 59, then Australia’s 18 and South Africa third with eight.
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2015 broke the prior record, which was set in 2000. With shark populations rebounding and more and more people in the ocean, bites are inevitable, he says.
The number of shark attacks increased to a record high last year, and I’m not saying this means you should never swim and should always stay on the land and hide in your shark bunker for the next five years, but I am saying you should at least be open to the idea.
The museum released its Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary on Monday, reporting that the US and Australia had the highest number of shark attacks a year ago.
Shark attacks are occurring further north in the United States as warmer ocean temperatures extend the marine mammal’s range, Burgess noted.
“Sharks plus humans equals attacks”.
He said despite the record number of attacks, the number of deaths remained average. And there’s good reason for that, according to George Burgess, the International Shark Attack File’s curator.
“We can and should expect the number of attacks to be higher each year”, Burgess said. Margaret Cruse was snorkeling about 200 yards from the shore in Maui last April when a shark attacked her, authorities said.
As the human population continues to grow, we need to prepare for coexistence strategies, says Hammerschlag. Of the attacks that year, 11 were fatal. The New York attack, Burgess said, brings to light another factor in the increase in attacks: warming ocean waters because of climate change.
For anyone unlucky enough to find themselves face-to-face with an attacking shark, experts said to try and hit the shark on the nose, preferably with an inanimate object. “However, year-to-year variability in local meteorological, oceanographic, and socioeconomic conditions also significantly influences the local abundance of sharks and humans in the water and, therefore, the odds of encountering one another”.
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– A record number of unprovoked shark attacks in 2015 prompted University of Florida researchers to find out why. “When we visit the sea, we’re on their turf”. Twelve attacks occurred in New South Wales, two in Western Australia, two in Queensland, and single incidents in South Australia and Victoria; the single fatality occurred in New South Wales.
