International Shark Attack File 2020 Shows Encounters Down But Fatalities Up
Shark attacks down on five year average, but fatalities show slight spike.
Humans fascination with the morbid side of our world has not waned in recent years. Our obsession with horror, murder mysteries and serial killers is reflected in ever-popular shows on streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon. Ultimately, there is no surprise that the news of shark attacks peeks our morbid curiosity, especially since Jaws hit cinema-screens in 1975.
The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF) has released its yearly summary of shark attacks from 2020. ISAF investigated 129 shark-human interactions worldwide and confirmed 57 unprovoked shark bites on humans and 39 provoked bites.
An unprovoked shark bite is classified as an incident where a shark has bitten a human, with no provocation of the shark by the human. A provoked attack is classified as an incident where the interaction has been initiated by the human. This includes either harassing or touching a shark, spearfishing or attempting to feed sharks.
The 2020 worldwide total of unprovoked cases (57) was lower than the 5-year average of 80 incidents annually. ISAF reports that there were 13 shark related fatalities this year, 10 of which were considered unprovoked. This number is up on the annual global average of four unprovoked fatalities per year.
Broadly looking at this, attacks are down, but fatalities are up. Why might this be the case? Well, from a global standpoint, there is no understating the impact of the pandemic on these statistics. Most countries at some point in the last year have had some form of lockdown, ranging in duration and strictness. From personal experience, being in Florida (shark attack capital of the world) during the March lockdown, the beaches closed for an extended period of time. There is therefore no denying that this has had some form of impact on these statistics globally.
Looking at the fatalities aspect this is where the data becomes very interesting, and it is very difficult to pin down one specific reason as to why this might be the case. There are a number of different variables that impact whether a person lives or dies from a shark bite. These include, but are not limited to: the size of the shark that has caused the bite, the position of the bite on the body and the distance of the person from immediate medical attention. All three factors play a large part in the survivability of the shark bite. It is entirely plausible that this past year, those factors influenced the apparent increase of shark fatalities.
It is important to remember, every death by shark bite is a tragedy for the individual and their families. However when we enter the water, we must understand the risks associated with entering the habitat of an ancient predator, who are doing what they have been evolutionary designed to do for millions of years. It’s also important to remember that while 13 human fatalities is a large number, this pales in comparison to the number of sharks killed from overfishing and bycatch every year around the world, likely numbering in the hundreds of millions.