The number of people killed by sharks in the last year has been quartered, but are they attacking any less?
Posted 02.12.2008 at 5:57 pm
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Shark
NOAA
George Burgess, the director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, announced today that fatal attacks from the toothy predators dropped to a two-decade low worldwide. Only a single swimmer was lost in 2007, compared to four each in the two years before. Granted, that doesn’t mean sharks are leaving us alone completely. The number of attacks actually increased from 2006 to 2007, jumping from 63 to 71. More than half of these occurred in US or Hawaiian waters.
As for why the number of fatal strike dropped, Burgess suspects this is the result of improved medical treatments and better swimmer awareness. For more information, check out the International Shark Attack File here.
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Remember when viewing the ISAF stats on shark attacks that they only count certain attacks that meet one person’s criteria. There is never any proof offered by the ISAF to prove the stats you are now reading.
If you visit www.sharkattacksurvivors.com/shark_attack/ you can read about each attack reported for the year 2007. Out of almost forty people known to be eaten or killed by sharks in 2007 only one is counted by the ISAF.
Bathers, swimmers, surfers, or anyone planning to visit the beaches you should visit www.sharkattacksurvivors.com to get the actual shark attack figures.
The figures you are reading from the ISAF are biased toward tourism and shark conservation, NOT your safety.
Al Brenneka
www.sharkattacksurvivors.com