Shark feast 2001

There have been a record number of shark attacks in the United States this year, and almost all of them have made national headlines. According to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), there were 79 unprovoked attacks in the US alone - the largest number since 1958. This summer, that record was broken again with an increase in attacks on swimmers along the Florida panhandle.

The ISAF is an extensive data base that lists all of the reported injuries and deaths due to shark attacks, along with information about the time, location, and other details provided by the victim. That information is then compared to other factors like the relative amount of human time spent in the sea, water depth, water temperature, etc.

According to the statistics, Volusia County, Fl. is not the place to visit for a dip in the ocean if you want to decrease your chances of being attacked. Last year, twelve of the nation's shark bites occurred on beaches lining this county. One of the reasons why so many attacks occur there is because of the popularity of the places along that particular stretch of coastline. The water in this area is ideal for surfers and waders. The only problem is that the sharks tend to migrate to the warm waters there, as well.

Over the past ten years, there has been a worldwide increase in the number of people using the ocean for swimming, which is probably why the number of attacks has sky-rocketed. Of the attacks on humans in the year 2000, 46.1 percent of those were on swimmers or waders, 31.6 percent were on surfers, 18.4 percent were on divers and 2.6 percent were on body surfers.

It is useful, however, to put all of this information in perspective. From 1959 to 1990, there were a total of 180 shark attacks in the state of Florida. In that same time period, there were 1,155 reports of humans being struck by lightning in the Sunshine State. In 1996, there were 1,587 reports of injuries from humans biting humans in New York City, and a mere 13 shark attacks in the US. While the media coverage is high, the actual number of attacks that occur each year and a person's chances of being a victim are small.