Fewer sharks attacked last year. Florida wasn’t so lucky, report says
Florida is known for its wildlife, but sharks may be the state’s most dangerous creature.
For decades, the state has topped the charts for unprovoked shark attacks. This year, the U.S. and Florida saw a small increase.
In its yearly worldwide shark attack summary, the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida investigated 140 alleged “shark-human interactions” in 2019. The research group tackled 10 more cases than last year, but not every case means an attack.
Last year saw 119 shark-related attacks; there were 115 in 2018.
In 2019, the research group confirmed 64 unprovoked shark attacks, 41 provoked, 12 boat attacks and one case involving a diver in an aquarium worldwide.
Compared to 2018, unprovoked attacks declined last year. There were 66 attacks in 2018. The same cannot be said for other other categories. In 2019, there were seven more provoked attacks and three more cases were sharks attacked boats than the year before.
In the U.S., there were nine more unprovoked shark attacks last year but no fatalities. And 2018 saw 32 attacks and one fatality compared to 2019’s 41 attacks and no fatalities.
Florida also saw an increase of five more unprovoked shark attacks: 21 in 2019 and 16 in 2018.
Even with these small increases the shark attack file says, “The total number of unprovoked shark attacks worldwide is extremely low, given the number of people participating in aquatic recreation each year.”
“We haven’t seen that much of a difference,” Program Manager Tyler Bowling said. “In the short term we are seeing a decrease in the Southeast and historically that has been attributed to Blacktips. What we’ve been seeing is that Blacktips numbers are decreasing.”
Bowling says Blacktips aren’t necessarily dying off but are moving offshore away from beachgoers and surfers.
Florida has seen sharks making appearances at beaches, especially in New Smyrna Beach, which is called the “Shark Bite Capital of the World.”
In December, a 9-year-old boy was knocked off his surfboard by a Blacktip at New Smyrna Beach.
During the summer, New Smyrna Beach two shark attacks — neither fatal. One attack involved a teen surfer bitten on the foot and the other was a teen who was bitten on the calf.
This story was originally published January 21, 2020 at 4:23 PM with the headline "Fewer sharks attacked last year. Florida wasn’t so lucky, report says."
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)