Shark attack
| Shark attack | |
|---|---|
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| A sign warning about the presence of sharks off Salt Rock, South Africa | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| ICD-10 | W56 |
| ICD-9-CM | E906.3 E906.3 |
The term shark attack is used to describe an attack on a human by a shark. Every year over 70 attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their relative rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, and horror fiction and films such as the Jaws series. Out of more than 480 shark species, only three are responsible for a double-digit number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, tiger, and bull; however, the oceanic whitetip has probably killed many more castaways, not recorded in the statistics.
According to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), between 1958 and 2016 there were 2,899 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks around the world, of which 548 were fatal.
Since 1791 to the end of 2015, Australia recorded a total of 1,032 shark attacks and is, therefore, ranked as one of the highest shark attack countries worldwide. Globally, Australia is ranked the highest country in terms of shark attack fatalities, recording a total of 236 fatalities since 1791. Western Australia is also referred to as the world's deadliest waters, as the highest number of deaths have occurred in Western Australia, which has experienced 11 fatal shark attacks since 2000. In 2000, there were 79 shark attacks reported worldwide, 11 of them fatal. In 2005 and 2006 this number decreased to 61 and 62 respectively, while the number of fatalities dropped to only four per year. Of these attacks, the majority occurred in the United States (53 in 2000, 40 in 2005, and 39 in 2006).The New York Times reported in July 2008 that there had been only one fatal attack in the previous year. On average, there are 16 shark attacks per year in the United States, with one fatality every two years. Despite these reports, however, the actual number of fatal shark attacks worldwide remains uncertain. For the majority of Third World coastal nations, there exists no method of reporting suspected shark attacks; therefore, losses and fatalities near-shore or at sea there often remain unsolved or unpublicized.
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