Shark bite fatalities spike as attack levels decrease

SHARK attacks decreased across Australia last year, but the number of people mauled to death by the ocean giants climbed to the highest figure in more than 90 years.

There were eight fatalities in Australian waters in 2020, up from none the year before and one in 2018.

There hasn’t been six or more deadly shark attacks since 1934. Five years earlier, in 1929, nine people were killed.

International researchers found there were 57 “unprovoked” bites globally last year, down from 64 the year before.

Yet it was the deadliest year since 2013, with 10 fatalities worldwide, according to the International Shark File.

The Australian Shark Attack File reported there were 22 unprovoked incidents last year, plus four provoked incidents. This is down from 23 incidents the year prior.

Academics described the spike in deaths as “dramatic” but said there was no cause for alarm. “We expect some yearto-year variability in bite numbers and fatalities. One year does not make a trend,” International Shark File researchers said.

The coronavirus crisis may have played a part in reducing shark attack figures, given it was a slow year for tourism.

According to the International Shark Attack File, great whites were involved in at least 16 “unprovoked” attacks in 2020, including four fatalities in Australia.

Shark research expert Gavin Naylor said while the nation was hard hit with deaths last year, the total number of bites was not unusual.

“It’s just that the fraction of bites that resulted in fatalities was higher,” he said, noting the severity of a shark attack depends on the species involved.

“A blacktip can give you four stitches, while a nibble from a white shark can remove your leg. They’re supremely better swimmers than humans, and they’ve got a nasty set of choppers at the front.”

Researchers said there was no evidence that sharks actively hunted humans and they were simply curious.