Shark attacks of swimmers are dangerous, but uncommon

Along both U.S. coasts, Americans this summer have been hearing reports of shark bites and sightings, triggering beach closures and advisories.

In Long Island, New York, several people were injured in suspected shark attacks this month. To the northeast, a Cape Cod beach was temporarily closed after a white shark sighting. In Northern California, one man was hospitalized in serious condition last month after being bitten by a shark while swimming near Grey Whale Cove State Beach.

But even as encounters with sharks make headlines this summer, the risk of being attacked by the often misunderstood creatures remains low, and plenty of other phenomena are far more dangerous.

Cows and bees kill more people every year than sharks do, according to conservation group Defenders of Wildlife.

“Your chances of being bitten are kind of like your chances of winning the Powerball,” said Marine Biology Professor Christopher Lowe, who is director of the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach.

In other words: It's not likely to happen.

Also, humans are a far greater danger to sharks than the sea creatures are to us. On average, sharks kill five people per year in unprovoked attacks. Meanwhile, humans kill tens of millions of sharks every year.

• Since 2004, rip currents were responsible for 45 times more deaths than sharks were.

• Dogs killed more than five times the number of people (349) than did sharks (65) in the US between 2009 and 2018.

• Inanimate objects have even killed more people than sharks have. In 1996, toilets injured 43,687 people, ladders injured 138,894 people, and 198,849 people were hurt by nails, screws, tacks, and bolts. In comparison, there were only 13 shark injuries and deaths during the same year.

• Between 2000 and 2007, there were 441 hunting fatalities, compared to seven shark bite deaths in the US and Canada.

These numbers aren't meant to incite fear at the sight of dogs, toilets or ladders, but are instead meant to demonstrate just how uncommon shark attacks are. in 2021, with a total of 73 unprovoked incidents reported worldwide, according to a January 2022 report by the museum's International Shark Attack File.

The incidents included nine deaths globally, including one death in the US. A surfer was killed in a shark attack in California on Christmas Eve last year.

The numbers are on par with the five-year international average of 72 attacks annually, but represents an increase from the 52 attacks reported in 2020, when Americans hunkered down at home amid COVID-19 restrictions.

It is common to see annual fluctuations in sharkhuman interactions, and despite a spike in fatalities in 2021, long-term trends show the number of annual shark bite deaths are decreasing, according to the Shark Attack File.

The US leads the world in the annual number of documented shark bites, with a total of 47 reported in 2021. Most of those attacks were in Florida, according to data compiled by the museum. Surfers and boarders made up more than half of reported shark bite victims.

Lowe said the increase can be attributed to climate change and rising temperatures driving more people to the beach just as shark populations are recovering and possibly swimming closer to shore to feed.

“The country is warmer than it's ever been. And that's going to drive more people to the water than ever before, which just simply increases your probability of somebody getting accidentally bit,” the professor explained.

Still, when taking into account just how many people are going into the water, the probability of being attacked by a shark is very low. under conditions of poor water visibility, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

“People are bitten but rarely consumed, and that tells us that we are not on the shark's menu,” Lowe said.

“You have a much bigger risk driving to the beach, or even getting caught in a rip current than you ever would from being bitten by a shark.”

— Christopher Lowe, marine biology professor