You’re most likely not going to get attacked by a shark, however being within the U.S. does make it extra doubtless

There’s something about sharks. Of all the huge, lethal, fascinating creatures that roam our planet, sharks stand out for a way a lot they seize our imaginations and set off our fears. There’s no Bear Week or Snake Week or Elephant Week. There’s solely Shark Week.

There’s good eason for that. Sharks are outstanding animals. They’ve been round for hundreds of millions of years and have survived 5 mass extinction occasions. Their shock assault searching ways and chilly, expressionless faces make them ideally suited fodder for cinematic horror tales.

It’s no shock, then, {that a} majority of People have a significant fear of sharks. In a recent poll by Chapman College, extra individuals mentioned they’re afraid of sharks than mentioned the identical about earthquakes, hurricanes and even homicide.

Sharks do kill individuals, however the variety of deadly assaults is far smaller than you may suppose. Solely four people died from shark bites final 12 months, in response to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), a database of shark encounters maintained by researchers on the Florida Museum of Pure Historical past for many years. Not all shark bites are lethal, in fact. There have been 47 unprovoked shark bites worldwide in 2024.

Just one individual within the U.S. was killed by a shark final 12 months, an skilled surfer and lifeguard who died after being attacked whereas browsing in Hawaii final summer time. However a majority of the world’s sharks bites (60%) in 2024 occurred in U.S. waters. That’s in step with long-term traits. The USA persistently sees extra shark bites than some other nation.

The researchers with the ISAF have tracked shark assaults all the best way again to the sixteenth century. In line with their database, there have been almost 1,700 recorded shark attacks within the U.S. for the reason that 1500s, greater than double the quantity in some other nation and just below half of the full assaults worldwide. In terms of lethal shark bites, although, the U.S. falls nicely behind Australia, which has seen greater than 250 deadly assaults in its historical past.

Why does the U.S. have so many shark assaults?

The reply is extra about circumstances than the rest. To place it merely, the U.S. has an entire lot of locations the place people can come into contact with sharks and an entire lot of individuals for sharks to chew.

The U.S. has almost 100,000 miles of coastline (virtually 70,000 for those who don’t embrace Alaska). Just a few nations have extra and a few of these, like Canada and Russia, bump up in opposition to frigid Arctic seas the place you received’t discover many people or sharks within the water. The U.S. additionally has a a lot bigger inhabitants than different nations with massive coastlines, which results in many extra alternatives for sharks and people to come back into contact. It’s estimated that there are 3.4 billion trips made to American seashores yearly. That’s greater than 100 occasions as many as Australia, the place with the second-largest variety of shark assaults all time.

Lastly, the oceans surrounding the U.S. occur to be a part of the habitat of the “big three” sharks (nice whites, tiger sharks and bull sharks) which might be blamed for most dangerous assaults.

America’s shark chew capital

Shark bites aren’t distributed evenly throughout the U.S. both. Whereas California, Hawaii and the Carolinas see their share, Florida is certainly America’s shark-attack capital.

Half of all shark bites within the U.S. final 12 months — greater than 1 / 4 of all bites worldwide — occurred within the Sunshine State. Over the previous two centuries, Florida has seen four-and-a-half occasions as many shark assaults as some other state. If Florida had been its personal nation, it might rank No. 1 on the checklist of countries with essentially the most whole shark assaults.

Even inside Florida, assaults are concentrated in sure areas. Volusia County, residence to Daytona Seashore, is the place the majority of the state’s bites happen, because of its excessive inhabitants of sharks and well-liked surf spots. Thankfully the realm is residence principally to spinner sharks and black tip reef sharks, that are a lot smaller and fewer harmful than their deadlier kinfolk.

The right way to make the chance even smaller

The chances of anyone individual being killed by a shark are terribly low, much lower than the percentages of being killed by a canine, fireworks or lightning.

But when the concern of being attacked nonetheless haunts you, there are issues you are able to do to cut back your danger even additional. Listed below are the top tips, in response to Gavin Naylor, analysis director of the ISAF:

• Don’t go within the water alone

• Don’t go within the water at daybreak or nightfall

• Don’t go within the water the place there are a number of fish

• Don’t put on reflective jewellery within the water

• Attempt to keep away from splashing on the floor