Statistics

[UWSojourner]

Does anyone have any stats on scuba divers injured by animals (sharks, orcas, sea lions, etc.) that reference relative exposure?

I've seen stats tossed around like, "You're more likely to be killed in a car accident than be injured by an animal while diving." But I also have a lot more exposure (numbers of hours in the car) to car accident than I do diving. Any solid stats out there?

 

[UWSojourner]

Does anyone have any stats on scuba divers injured by animals (sharks, orcas, sea lions, etc.) that reference relative exposure?

I've seen stats tossed around like, "You're more likely to be killed in a car accident than be injured by an animal while diving." But I also have a lot more exposure (numbers of hours in the car) to car accident than I do diving. Any solid stats out there?

The silence is deafening! I really didn't expect that the stats didn't exist, just that I didn't know where to find them.

Is there really no information about number of dives per year in the US, or some such stat?

 

[UWSojourner]

Follow-up. This site gives some interesting statistics.

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/Statistics/statistics.htm#divers

 

[archman]

It's your whole "relative exposure" thing. And while I wouldn't call myself a statistician, I have to use them in my field a bit, and what you're asking for almost "blows my mind." Meaning I had to sit and think about it...

That site you have reference is by far the best I've ever seen. And I've seen many... in fact I've bookmarked it to read in detail tonite. I seriously doubt you're gonna get better information than that. And since no one tracks number of dives and dive duration reliably on the scale (or anywhere close to) you're wanting, anything you find printed will suffer high error and/or variability. High variation means crappy statistics... and then you're back where you started.

What's wrong with the site you're looking at anyway? Writing a paper or something?


Oh wow, according to the site 86% of diver-related attacks occur on males, and mostly on taller ones. I am SO screwed! Maybe I can offset by not wearing black or grey... 63% of attacks occur when that's the primary color. This site is FANTASTIC for shark trivia!!

 

[Scubakevdm]

I've been hurt by three triggerfish, maybe seven jellyfish, two corals, one lobster and a loggerhead turtle. Well, the turtle just swam over and kicked me, which didn't really hurt that bad but certainly was a mean-spirited thing to do and did hurt my feelings. Also I have been scared very badly by one bull shark and one goliath grouper (jewfish). I've spent about 2000 hours diving, so that breaks down to about .0065 hurtings per dive (not counting the kicking, .007 with) and .001 very bad scaring per dive.

 

[UWSojourner]

It's your whole "relative exposure" thing. And while I wouldn't call myself a statistician, I have to use them in my field a bit, and what you're asking for almost "blows my mind." Meaning I had to sit and think about it...

That site you have reference is by far the best I've ever seen. And I've seen many... in fact I've bookmarked it to read in detail tonite. I seriously doubt you're gonna get better information than that. And since no one tracks number of dives and dive duration reliably on the scale (or anywhere close to) you're wanting, anything you find printed will suffer high error and/or variability. High variation means crappy statistics... and then you're back where you started.

What's wrong with the site you're looking at anyway? Writing a paper or something?


Oh wow, according to the site 86% of diver-related attacks occur on males, and mostly on taller ones. I am SO screwed! Maybe I can offset by not wearing black or grey... 63% of attacks occur when that's the primary color. This site is FANTASTIC for shark trivia!!

No paper. Just trying to understand. The site breaks down the attacks by region. I bet DAN has some reasonable idea of the number of dives per year since their insurance covers DCI, etc.

So far this is the best site I've seen also.

 

[pitah]

Here are some information on sharks attacks....

International Shark Attack File 2002 Shark Attack Summary

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/Statistics/2002attacksummary.htm


The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) investigated 86 alleged incidents of shark-human interaction occurring worldwide in 2002. Upon review, 60 of these incidents represented confirmed cases of unprovoked shark attack on humans. "Unprovoked attacks" are defined as incidents where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark. Incidents involving sharks and divers in public aquaria or research holding-pens, shark-inflicted scavenge damage to already dead humans (most often drowning victims), and provoked incidents occurring in or out of the water are not considered unprovoked attacks. "Provoked attacks" usually occur when a human initiates physical contact with a shark, e.g. a diver bit after grabbing a shark or a fisher bit while removing a shark from a net. The 26 incidents not accorded unprovoked status in 2002 included 14 provoked attacks, three cases of sharks biting marine vessels, three incidents dismissed as non-attacks, and six in which insufficient information was available to determine if shark attack was involved. ..................

 

[UWSojourner]

Here are some information on sharks attacks....

International Shark Attack File 2002 Shark Attack Summary

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/Statistics/2002attacksummary.htm


The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) investigated 86 alleged incidents of shark-human interaction occurring worldwide in 2002. Upon review, 60 of these incidents represented confirmed cases of unprovoked shark attack on humans. "Unprovoked attacks" are defined as incidents where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark. Incidents involving sharks and divers in public aquaria or research holding-pens, shark-inflicted scavenge damage to already dead humans (most often drowning victims), and provoked incidents occurring in or out of the water are not considered unprovoked attacks. "Provoked attacks" usually occur when a human initiates physical contact with a shark, e.g. a diver bit after grabbing a shark or a fisher bit while removing a shark from a net. The 26 incidents not accorded unprovoked status in 2002 included 14 provoked attacks, three cases of sharks biting marine vessels, three incidents dismissed as non-attacks, and six in which insufficient information was available to determine if shark attack was involved. ..................

Yeah, I saw that file too. There seems to be pretty good info on the attacks. What's missing is what I was calling "relative exposure", or how often dives are conducted, especially in the areas where attacks occur.

For example, if there were 50 attacks, but they all occurred in a narrow area and only 5000 dives occurred there each year, then that's more risk than if 500,000 dives were made. But, without that info, statements like "you're more likely to die from a car ride to the marina" cannot be validated.

I know, pretty anal, but if you don't question you don't learn.

 

[SubMariner]

Does anyone have any stats on scuba divers injured by animals (sharks, orcas, sea lions, etc.) that reference relative exposure?

I've seen stats tossed around like, "You're more likely to be killed in a car accident than be injured by an animal while diving." But I also have a lot more exposure (numbers of hours in the car) to car accident than I do diving. Any solid stats out there?

I imagine DAN would have this type of information: http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/

However, I believe you must be a member in order to access the material.

Bonne chance,

 

[pitah]

Statistics of Attacks on Divers


Data analyses presented on the Shark Attack on Divers web pages were supported by a grant from the PADI Foundation.

http://shark-gallery.netfirms.com/attack/statistics.htm

check out this link it has lots of interesting information on diver shark attack conditions/ equipment / dressing.....