• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News Environment

Shark attacks on the rise – doubling in some parts of the world over the last 20 years

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the East Coast of the United States and Southern Australia are among the regions where attacks by the iconic predators are soaring

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2019-02-27 19:05
in Environment, News
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Shark attacks on people are rising – and have doubled over the last 20 years in some parts of the world, warns new research.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the East Coast of the United States and Southern Australia are among the regions where attacks by the iconic predators are soaring.

Although the number of shark attacks has increased over time, the study suggests that the rate of attack is “low” and the risk of being attacked by a shark is “highly variable” around the world.

Researchers conducted the first statistical analysis of shark attacks worldwide using data collected over a 55-year period from 1960 to 2015 from the International Shark Attack File housed in the Florida Museum of Natural History in the US.

A spate of shark attacks in North Carolina in 2015 made study lead author Doctor Stephen Midway, whose expertise is in fish ecology, curious about whether the events were unprecedented or normal, numerically speaking.

Dr Midway, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences at Louisiana State University, said: “I was curious what the likelihood of shark attacks is in a certain number of years at different places around the world.

“While shark attacks are often reported in numbers, we factored in the regional human populations to determine the rate of shark attacks worldwide.

RelatedPosts

Martin Lewis warns of mobile firms going rogue with post-Brexit roaming charges

Firefighters tackle London blaze as another week of hot weather gets underway

It won’t wash! Tory MP’s defence of Sunak funding boast falls FLAT

FOUR more regions set for hosepipe ban – will London be next?

Great White Shark charges in South Africa, taken with a pole camera. 

“I think this information could contribute to a more scientifically grounded discussion about sharks in general and help with the management and conservation of them.”

Dr Midway and his colleagues applied time series models to shark attacks in 14 countries and further investigated specific regions within three countries that had the highest number of shark attacks: the US, Australia and South Africa.

Their findings, published in the journal PLOS One, show that shark attack rates, although extremely low, have doubled over the past 20 years in highly populated regions including the East Coast of the US and Southern Australia.

Dr Midway said: “As development increases along the coast and in beach communities, more residents and tourists frequent these waters.

“With more people in the water, the chance for a shark attack increases.

“However, I must stress the fact that not all places across the globe saw an increase.

“And even in the places where we saw an increase, the chances were still one in several million.”

For example, from 1960 to 2015, there were 1,215 reported shark attacks in the U.S. Most of them resulted in minor skin injuries akin to a dog bite. But, about 24, around two per cent, were fatal over the 55-year period.

Study co-author George Burgess, director emeritus at the University of Florida, said: “Humans have always demonised sharks because they are elusive and live in an environment that’s not native to us – the sea.

“We would like people to know that these shark attack events need to be put into perspective whenever they occur. This study helps us step back and look at the big picture.”

Other studies have shown that year-over-year variation in the number of shark attacks is often the result of a combination of several factors. For instance, the increased number of attacks in North Carolina in 2015 is now thought to be the result of a combination of factors including a very warm summer.

Dr Midway added: “We ought to think of the risk of a shark attack like we would think of the risk of a car accident.

“For example, we don’t assess our personal risk of getting into a car accident by the national statistics on car accidents year over year.

“We think about our specific car, the weather, the road conditions and other very local factors.”

He said other variations include the number of people in the water and the type of water activity conducted at specific locations.

ENDS

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Tusk claims chances of Brexit being cancelled are 30 per cent

Nigel Farage joins GB News with vow to ‘not take the knee’

Parents protest outside primary school demanding lessons on LGBT issues are axed

Animals still suffering on Britain’s ‘Farm from Hell’ – as owner facing jail had sentence postponed

Man who repeatedly stabbed ex-wife before calling 999 to describe what he had done has been jailed

Man believed to be Extinction Rebellion protester climbed onto plane at London City Airport

London funder awards over £4m to 51 charities changing lives and tackling inequality

Child abuse inquiry hears shock claims of ‘collusion’ to hide truth about Home Office and council ‘hellholes’

London banks braced for no-deal Brexit as jobs and billions in assets to leave UK

Cannes 2022 Review: Holy Spider

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.