Surfer dies from fatal shark encounter in Hawaii

For an unfortunate surfer crashing through the waves in Hawaii during the dying days of 2023, it became just that after a fatal shark encounter on December 28.

Jason Carter, 39. died after the encounter in Paia Bay, despite the wounded man being transported by jet ski to shore, where he had treatment before being taken to hospital. Sadly, it was here he passed away from his injuries. 

Although there had been several encounters off Hawaii in 2023, this was the first one to be deadly. No shark species has been linked to this fatality, although the tiger shark is considered by the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources to be the most dangerous shark in those waters.

This shark surfing death happened just days after a 16-year-old surfer had a fatal shark encounter in Australia.

It's long been suggested that many unprovoked attacks on humans by sharks are opportunist - after all, we are in their domain - or that the shark is mistaking swimming in the water as the thrashing of an injured creature.

And we've all seen how the underwater view of a surfer doesn't look too dissimilar to that of a seal.

Kristian Parton, resident shark expert and real-life Matt Hooper at The Daily Jaws, who is also a Masters of Science by Research, said: “Our long-standing theory [is] that mistaken identity plays a major role in shark bite events around the world. Of course, there are the occasional exceptions - but the overwhelming evidence points to the fact that humans aren’t really on the menu for sharks.”

According to the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF), there were a total of 57 unprovoked bites in 2022, most of which happened in the United States and Australia. Five of these attacks were fatal, down from nine deaths in 2021 and 10 the year before that. The US had only a single unprovoked fatality, which happened in December that year, when a snorkeler went missing along Keawakapu Beach in Maui, Hawaii.

The fatal and non fatal shark encounter stats for 2023 are set to be released towards the end of this month, or early February.

Words by Dean Newman

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