When sharks attack

How common are shark attacks?

Statistically speaking, they are quite rare. According to the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History, 31 shark attacks have been reported worldwide so far this year. The average number of attacks per year in the 1990s was 54. To put it in context, hundreds of millions of people swim in oceans and seas in a single year, with a few dozen encountering the jaws of a shark. More people die annually from attacks by dogs, bees, wasps, and snakes than by sharks. Your chances of being killed by a shark are 30 times less than being killed by lightning. You are thousands of times more likely to be injured by home-improvement equipment such as ladders, chain saws, and nails.

Why do shark attacks occur?

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Sharks bite people only when they’ve mistaken us for fish or seals, marine biologists say. To a shark on the hunt, swimmers’ flapping limbs look like thrashing fish. Usually, shark attacks on humans come when there is blood in the water, as often happens after an accident at sea, or when one is swimming too close to areas where chum—bloody fish parts—is being spread as bait for sharks. When in a feeding frenzy, sharks will take a bite of almost anything. Tin cans and boots are among the many items that have been retrieved from their stomachs.

Are there different kinds of attacks?

The most common type is the “hit and run.” That happens when a small shark is confused by the movement of a human body, takes a bite, and moves off to another, more tempting target. Larger sharks often take the “bump and bite” approach, whereby they get a feel for their victims by bumping up against them, prior to deciding whether to move in for a kill. And then there is the “sneak attack,” which describes an unprovoked and total assault that takes place without warning. Great white sharks specialize in these.

Where are these attacks most likely to take place?

In the U.S., the greatest number of attacks occur in Volusia, Brevard, and Palm Beach counties, all in Florida. Last year, 34 of 79 shark attacks reported around the world took place in Florida; the year before, the figure was 25 of 58. Some theorize that the frequency of attacks in Florida is a simple product of a lot more people in the water; the state’s population has soared from 7 million in 1970 to 16 million in 2000. And that doesn’t count tourists. Florida is also a prime location for the increasingly popular phenomenon of “shark feeding.” This activity involves professional divers luring sharks with food so that tourists can be photographed with them. Enthusiasts liken the thrill to swimming with dolphins, but many think it is as dangerous as feeding bears in Yellowstone.

What are some recent attacks?

On July 6, an 8-year-old boy named Jessie Arbogast was attacked by a 200-pound bull shark off Pensacola, Fla. The creature bit off his arm about four inches below his shoulder. It was surgically reattached in an 11-hour operation. On the same July day, a three-foot shark bit the foot of an 18-year-old tourist off Amelia Island, also in Florida. Nine days later, just a few miles from where Arbogast was struck, a 48-year-old surfer was hospitalized after he suffered puncture wounds to his leg, apparently the result of a shark encounter. The most recent incident was off Grand Bahama on Aug. 4. Krishna Thompson, a 36-year-old Wall Street banker who was celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary, lost his left leg to an unidentified species of shark. The attack occurred in water that was only 4- to 5-feet deep.

What were some of the worst attacks in history?

Over the course of 12 days in July 1916, a 400-pound, 8-foot great white shark terrorized the New Jersey coast, attacking five people—killing four of them. Author Michael Capuzzo, who researched the attacks for his book Close to Shore, described that shark as crazed as “a human serial killer.” The fish was ultimately caught, accidentally, by two men in their 6-foot net. Perhaps the most infamous shark attack in history began on July 30, 1945, when the cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed 600 miles west of Guam by a Japanese submarine. About 900 men went into the water, and 600 died before they could be rescued, many of them eaten by thousands of sharks that swarmed them in a feeding frenzy. An officer who assisted in the rescue estimated that about half of the bodies that were recovered were shark-bitten, “some to such a degree that they more nearly resembled skeletons.”

Are there any effective shark repellents?

For years, downed fliers and shipwreck survivors put their faith in a compound called copper acetate, which was developed during World War II. The U.S. Navy formerly issued soluble cakes of this concentrated “shark chaser” as standard survival equipment. But despite effectiveness claims of greater than 95 percent, subsequent research has found the material to be largely worthless. Other attempts at devising shark repellents have included large “bags” that cover the human body and afford less of a glimpse of tempting limbs. Today, some firms offer devices that send low-voltage electrical impulses through the water; because sharks are so sensitive to changes in electrical fields, signals that register over a certain threshold may be intensely irritating, enough to drive them off. But no shark repellent is foolproof. The best preventative is still common sense: Swim in groups, do not stray too far from shore, and avoid exciting sharks with glittery jewelry or bleeding cuts.

The real Captain Quint