Report on number of shark attacks in 2013

[billt4sf]

From the NY Times:

ORLANDO, Florida — Shark attacks fell to a five-year low in 2013 but the number of fatalities rose to 10, up from an average of six deaths in recent years, according to a report released on Monday.
There were 72 confirmed shark attacks in 2013, with Florida leading the globe with 23 and Hawaii with 13, according to the University of Florida's annual International Shark Attack File. (Shark study:FLMNH Ichthyology Department: ISAF Shark Attack Summary 2013)
<snip>
The death scorecard remains in favor of humans. Compared with the 10 people killed by sharks in 2013, Burgess said, 30 million to 70 million sharks are killed by humans annually, primarily by commercial fishing.
the link is:
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2014/02/18/world/18reuters-sharks-attacks.html?hp

it is behind a pay wall if you read more than 10 stories on their site in a month.

- Bill

 

[drrich2]

What amazes me is how many shark/human encounters with species that are 'potentially dangerous' go fine; no problems. Shark just swims by and keeps going.

Be nice if they posted fatality statistics for people who died in auto accidents to & from the dive trips, drownings, deaths during penetration and cave dives (especially by people diving beyond their training), and so forth.

Richard.

 

[TMHeimer]

I know I've bored people a lot in that I just don't like comparing shark attack data to other accidents/deaths. But I'm also not really a fan of that "numbers of deaths: us vs. them" thing that is so popular. The unreal killing of sharks (especially finning) is a tragedy that could be stopped if humans wanted to. The death of (well almost) any human is just a tragedy. Apples & oranges. If humans stopped the finning and sharks caught as bycatch, maybe we could kill a number of them for consumption and not upset the food chain--I ate shark meat a few years ago and recall it was quite good.

 

[drbill]

Death of any human is not necessarily a tragedy... it is a natural consequences of living. Even dying from a shark "attack" is not a tragedy IMHO (as long as it isn't me!) since we should be aware of the risks wgen we enter the water and we made the choice to participate in water activities.

I am always astounded that so many people irrationally fear death by shark when honeybees (which far more people are exposed to) kill more people each year.