The world capital of shark attacks has been named – and it is in the USA

US News

From Steve Helling

According to a report by the Natural History Museum and Florida University, Florida is the shark bite capital of the world, with the area around Daytona Beach having the highest number of attacks of all.

The International Shark Attack File has identified Volusia County as a global hotspot for shark attacks on humans: since the earliest records they could find, dating back to 1837, 351 unprovoked attacks have been recorded there.

In Florida, the state with the longest coastline in the USA, there were an incredible 928 attacks during this period, followed by Hawaii with 195, California with 138 and South Carolina with 118. New York reported only 24 unprovoked shark attacks during this period.

The shark attack file contains data on a total of 1,640 attacks in the United States, dating back nearly 200 years, making the country the most victim of attacks.

The USA is followed by Australia with 706 and then South Africa, where there were a total of 262 attacks by all shark species.

In 2023, the Shark Attack File documented 69 unprovoked shark bites on humans worldwide. Of these attacks, 36 occurred in U.S. waters.

There were 16 cases in Florida, representing 44% of the total in the U.S. and 23% of the unprovoked bites detected worldwide—and half of those occurred in Volusia County.

Most attacks occurred during the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when more people are in the water.

On Labor Day 2023, two swimmers were bitten by sharks in separate incidents near Ponce Inlet, south of Daytona Beach. One man was bitten on the left hand, while another shark bit a woman’s right foot. Neither attack was life-threatening.

Lifeguards in Volusia County say they see sharks all the time, but they rarely attack.

“The locals who live here deal with sharks on a daily basis and never have any problems,” Tammy Malphurs, Volusia Beach’s assistant director of safety, told WKMG-TV. “The bites here are the result of mistaken identity.”

“We have never had any life-threatening injuries,” Malphurs continued, “but there are a lot of bites, mainly in the New Smyrna Beach area.”

Last year’s shark attacks included Tatyana Koltunuk of Queens, who had a piece of her thigh torn off a shark while swimming at Rockaway Beach last summer – the first attack there in 70 years.

In addition to the 69 unprovoked attacks, there were another 22 bites classified as provoked, meaning that contact with the shark was initiated by humans. Other cases involved boats, aquariums or post-mortem bites.

According to the National Ocean Service, sharks’ fearsome reputation is untrue. Of the 300 species of sharks, only a dozen have ever attacked humans and they generally dislike our taste, preferring to feed on other marine mammals.

If you are attacked by a shark, experts advise defending yourself because playing dead will not work. People are encouraged to fight back by focusing on the shark’s eyes, nose and gills.

Experts recommend that if you have something available, such as a surfboard or fishing equipment, use those items to immobilize the shark.

But above all, don’t think too much about the danger.

“Sharks only attack humans when they are confused or curious,” says the National Ocean Service. “If a shark sees a human splashing in the water, it may try to investigate, which could lead to an accidental attack.”