A study by the University of Florida has revealed that 2011 saw a doubling of people killed by shark attacks compared with 2010. The mortality rate of shark attacks outside the United States has also surged from an average of 7% over the last 10 years to more than 25% in 2011.
Number of people killed by sharks in 2011 was 12.
The jump in mortality rates support this as these remote areas are not set up to deal with injuries from shark attacks. One of the report authors, George Burgess, an ichthyologist from the University of Florida, highlights the cases of three areas not normally associated with shark attacks.
The researchers suggest that the number of people killed by sharks doubling is because tourists are now seeking more adventurous and this is leading to them increasingly getting into conflict with sharks in remote areas.
Despite the numbers doubling the number of people killed by shark attacks is still incredibly small. Global deaths in 2011 amounted to 12 deaths from a reported 75 incidents.
New tourist destinations ill-equipped to deal with shark attack.
Reunion, Seychelles and New Caledonia saw 5 people die from 7 attacks – a very high mortality rate. This was caused by the areas becoming a new popular tourist destination. However local medical centres are not equipped to deal with major trauma from attacks.
“We had a number of fatalities in essentially out-of the way places, where there’s not the same quantity and quality of medical attention readily available,” Burgess said. “They also don’t have histories of shark attacks in these regions, so there are not contingency plans in effect like there are in places such as Florida.”
United States had most shark attacks but no deaths.
Australia had the most deaths from shark attacks with 3 people dying from 11 incidents. South Africa had 2 deaths from 5 shark attacks. The country with the most shark attacks though was the United States with 29 of the reported 75 shark attacks. No people died from their injuries in the US.
Burgess said that the US had done a good job in ensuring that where sharks and people came together there was a well established medical procedure. This had led to reducing fatalities. These procedures included well-trained beach staff and high quality local hospitals. ”As a result, when trauma occurs, when there are serious injuries in the water, we can get the people to the hospital quickly,” he said.
Shark attacks happening in areas with no history.
Changing shark distribution also seems to have played a role in the increase deaths last year. There were shark attacks in regions that are not known for their shark populations. There were three non-fatal shark attacks off the coast of Primorye in far east Russia. The researchers suggest that this could be a result of sharks responding to climate change and entering new territories.
If the attacks in the United States are excluded from the figures then 1 in 4 people attacked by sharks during 2011 died from their injuries. The most high risk activity appeared to be surfing (60% of attacks) followed by swimming (35%) of attacks. The least risky activity was diving which accounted for 5% of the conflicts.
External sites:
ISAF 2011 Worldwide Shark Attack Summery.
