Half of all fatalities resulting from unprovoked shark attacks in 2008 occurred in Mexico, the International Shark Attack File reported earlier this year. 
The organization defines an “unprovoked attack” as one in which a shark in its natural habitat attacks a live human without provocation.
Worldwide there was a total of 118 incidents involving sharks in 2008. Of these, 59 were unprovoked attacks. Four fatalities resulted from these attacks, with two in Mexico, and one each in Australia and California.
Strange Sequence of Attacks. Four of the attacks last year occurred in April and May. In April, an American surfer died after being attacked by a shark on the southern Pacific coast of Mexico only four days after another man was killed by a great white shark in San Diego, the Times reported.
In May, there were two more incidents in Zihuatanejo–also on Mexico’s southern Pacific coast. In one, a surfer was killed by a shark. In another, a surfer survived an attack.
The victim in San Diego was the first person to be killed by a shark in southern California in 50 years, according to msnbc.com. No one had been killed by a shark on Mexico’s Pacific coast in more than 30 years, the msnbc story said.
Of the 59 unprovoked attacks in 2008, 42 or 71 percent occurred in North America. Twelve attacks occurred in Australia, Mexico had three attacks, and Brazil had two.
Number of Attacks Down from 2007. The number of unprovoked attacks in 2008 is down from 2007, which saw 71. The all-high of unprovoked attacks was 79 in 2000.
“Attacks on the Atlantic coast, particularly in Florida, are far more common than they are on the Pacific coast,” the Times article says. Further, the Times cited a Harvard study concluding that “a person’s chances of being killed by a shark in any given year are about 1 in 280 million, compared with a 1 in 6,700 chance of being killed in a car accident.”
Photo by Stormy Dog (Via Creative Commons)
on May 27th, 2009 at 10:26 am
I love reading your articles. You always bring up relevant and interesting subjects, but these stats I don’t understand. I wish you had specifically said how MX stands out, less than US, less than world?? I’m guessing MX has more people in the water, ie tourists, yet fewer shark attacks.
on May 27th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Joyce,
You make a good point.
I said “Mexico Stands Out” because half of the shark attack fatalities in 2008 occurred there. But I should revise the post so it actually says that in the first sentence. There were four fatalities from unprovoked shark attacks in 08–two of which occurred in Mexico.
I appreciate your feedback. I could use some more constructive criticism when it comes to the blog. (I already have enough of it in most other areas of my life )
It’s funny, the thing that got me thinking about shark attacks was a report I heard on NPR a few months ago that said shark attacks were actually down because fewer people were swimming in the ocean as a result of the bad economy.
Almost everyday people find Travelojos via google search of the term “shark attacks.” Despite the incredible odds against it, there’s a lot of people out there that are worried about being eaten by a shark.
on Jul 19th, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Well, I guess that the statistics are a bit skewed. It would be a bit different to ask “What percent of individuals who are in the water are attacked,” a number that is impossible to know. As a spear fisherman, I do NOT think that my odds are the same as quoted in the article!!