Factors Involving Shark Attacks

Shark attacks are often the subject of media frenzy. Because they are well publicized, the general public believes that shark attacks are far more common than they actually are. In reality, a person is in more danger on a beach than they are in the water. From 1990 through 2006, 16 people were killed in the U.S. as a result of falling in a hole at the beach, and only 11 were killed in shark attacks.

  1. Victim's Activity

    • Surface activities like swimming attract sharks.

      Certain water activities are more likely to attract a shark than others. People floating on the surface of the water attract sharks. Surface activities that seem to attract sharks include surfing, floating on boogie boards and other devices, waterskiing and rafting. People engaged in surface activities are most often attacked. This could be due to the fact that they resemble a seal or other shark prey. Swimming is another activity that correlates to shark attacks. Swimmers, people treading water and people wading in shallow water have all been victims of shark attacks. Scuba divers are not typically attacked.

    Attacking Species

    • The bull shark is an aggressive species.

      Some shark species are aggressive and territorial, resulting in a higher number of attacks on humans. The shark species that are associated with the highest number of attacks are white, tiger and bull sharks. However, statistics are based on the positive identification of a shark species either by the victim, witnesses or teeth marks. Some shark species are easier to identify than others, meaning that attacks by lesser known species aren't identified. Also, sharks like the great white and hammerhead are easily recognizable, meaning that they get identified more often. This results in skewed statistics.

    Location

    • Certain beach locations are also shark habitats.

      Location plays a huge role in shark attacks. Florida, Hawaii and California are the states with the highest number of shark attacks. The countries with the highest number of attacks are the U.S., Australia and Africa. This is due to the fact that these locations are in shark territory. Shark habitats vary, but most shark species live on the continental shelf and in tropical reefs. These areas correlate to the areas with the most shark attacks.

    Beach Attendance and Human Influence

    • The more people are at the beach, the more shark attacks occur.

      Beach attendance and shark attacks are related. During summers that are particularly hot, beach attendance goes up and so does the number of shark attacks. There are other factors as well, including environmental and economical issues. For example Florida, known as the shark attack capital of the world, saw a decrease in the number of shark attacks in 2010 even though the number of shark attacks overall was at an all-time high. This is due to human influences like the Gulf oil spill and a bad economy keeping tourists away from Florida beaches.