Did you know that in 2023 there were only 69 confirmed, unprovoked shark bite cases worldwide? Unprovoked meaning no interaction with a shark prior to the bite. As a note, there were 22 confirmed provoked bites worldwide last year (2023). When you consider the worldwide population, 91 shark bite cases isn’t really that much at all.

In 2023, the global population was estimated to be around 8 billion. Out of those 8 billion people, there were 91 people that had confirmed shark bites. That comes out to a 1 in 88 million chances of being bitten and your odds of being bitten are 0.00000114%. The Shark Attack Summary is linked here and the global population estimation is linked here.

Sharks, unfortunately, get a really bad rap and are seen as scary and very dangerous. While they can cause harm to humans, they do not hunt humans or seek them out. I have found that there is a great amount of fear when it comes to sharks.

So, why is there so much fear around sharks? I think the entertainment industry (movies, TV shows, etc) and the media play a huge role in this. Movies depict sharks are these huge dangerous creatures that hunt humans. This is grossly inaccurate. Shark attacks occur mainly due to curiosity & confusion. If humans are splashing around in the water, a shark may be curious and come over to investigate, which could lead to an accidental attack.(Do Sharks Hunt People?, n.d.) Humans are not part of a shark’s diet and they are usually more scared of humans than we are of them. They would much rather feed on their normal diet than attack humans. (Do Sharks Hunt People?, n.d.)

Sharks are what we call apex predators, meaning they are at the top of the food chain and have no known predators (except humans). With this in mind though, shark populations are in decline mostly due to overfishing & shark finning. Sharks are very important to the overall health of the ecosystem. Because they are apex predators, they feed on many different species, helping to keep those populations in check, which helps to prevent overgrowth of that species. A shark’s diet can include: fish, seals, dolphins, squid, turtles, & sea lions. Linked here is a great article and resource to learn more about overfishing and how it affects sharks.

Last year, in 2023, there were 12 fatalities related to shark attacks worldwide. I would like to point out a few things that kill more people each year than sharks do:

Cars/traffic accidents: Estimated that traffic accidents kill approximately 1.19 million people each year, worldwide. Article linked here.

Ladders: In the US alone, about 300 people die each year from ladder-related injuries. (It’s National Ladder Safety Month |  Blogs | CDC, 2021) Article linked here.

Bicycles: The yearly average in the US for bicycle related fatalities is about 800 people. Article linked here.

Dehydration: In the US alone, approximately 100 people die each year from dehydration. Article linked here.

These are a just a few examples, but I hope you can see that shark attacks make up such a small percentage and it is unlikely that you will experience a shark bite or die from a shark bite. Linked here is a great resource for reducing your risk of a shark attack.

Let me know in the comments why do you think the fear of shark attacks is so widespread, given that the chances of being bitten are so low?

References:

Do Sharks Hunt People? (n.d.). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/sharkseat.html#:~:text=Some%20of%20the%20larger%20shark,leading%20to%20an%20accidental%20attack.

It’s National Ladder Safety Month |  Blogs | CDC. (2021, June 28). https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2017/03/13/ladder-safety-month/#:~:text=Each%20year%20in%20the%20U.S.,pain%20and%20suffering%20expenses1.