Humans at fault for shark attack surge

Shark attacks on people are surging worldwide – and humans are largely to blame, scientists have found.

In 2015 they listed 98 unprovoked shark attacks around the world – beating the previous record of 88 set in 2000. Six of the 2015 attacks were fatal and many happened around holiday hotspots favoured by Britons.

Now researchers have studied the places where such attacks are most common – concluding that human interference with the sharks’ environment is the factor driving the surge.

The study is by Blake Chapman and Daryl Mcphee of Bond University in Queensland, Australia, and was published in the Ocean & Coastal Management journal.

It found that most (84 per cent) of attacks occurred in six areas – the United States, South Africa, Australia, Brazil, the Bahamas and the [Indian Ocean] island of Reunion.

Around the Bahamas researchers found that one factor was the rise in cageless shark diving and hand-feeding.

Off Reunion, shark populations have surged after hunting them was banned – which could have led to food shortages for the sharks. This also coincided with an increase in scuba diving.

The researchers found that more than half the attacks happened in America, with the majority in Florida, especially on surfing beaches around the city of Daytona.

The study suggests that dredging and pollutants washing off the land, all in a key breeding area, have disrupted the sharks’ ecology and feeding patterns. A boom in surfing occurred at the same time.

Shark attacks have taken place off British shores – 29 were recorded in the past 100 years – but the destruction of fish stocks means their populations are now tiny.