How Many Wakeboarders Killed By Sharks?

In 2015, a 26-year-old man was killed by a shark while wakeboarding off the coast of Australia, and the following year, a 19-year-old woman was killed by a shark while wakeboarding in the Bahamas. Shark attack reports indicate that just five people were killed by sharks in 2019 worldwide, but there were likely more fatalities in the United Kingdom. In 2023, there have been 37 fatal shark attacks, with ten of them being unprovoked.

The Florida Museum of Natural History reports that between 20 and 100 million sharks die each year due to fishing activity. International Shark 2021 saw 73 unprovoked shark attacks worldwide, nine of which were fatal. Conservationists argue that this pales in comparison to the estimated 20 to 30 shark attacks in 2020, including six in Australia, one in California, and one in Maine.

Great white sharks are common in Australia but fatal attacks are rare, with only 53 deaths in the past 50 years. Wakeboarder Lisa Mondy, 24, was attacked by a great white shark in 2011 that left her with severe injuries. With a total of 682 shark attacks and over 155 deaths since 1580, Australians are always under red alert.

The sharks captured were predominately tiger sharks, with it still unclear what species attacked Justine Barwick, 46, and Hannah Papps, 12, respectively. Bull sharks have a unique feature of living in both salt- and fresh water, having attacked people in Lake Nicaragua in Central America.

Have any pro surfers been attacked by sharks?

The movie “Soul Surfer” documented the story of Bethany Hamilton, a professional surfer whose left arm was bitten off in a shark attack in 2003. In 2015, during the finals of a pro surfing event in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa, Australian Mick Fanning fought off a shark in an encounter captured by video.

Should I be worried about sharks while surfing?

Though extremely rare, the chance of encountering a shark while surfing is enough to keep some people from picking up a surfboard. The likelihood of being attacked by a shark is thought to be 1 in 11.5 million, and only 4 or 5 people in the entire world die each year from shark attacks. If you’re still nervous about meeting one of these ocean predators, check out these guidelines to help you further minimize the chances of an encounter.

There are the obvious spots, like near fishermen or fishing boats, where bait, injured fish, and blood and guts are plentiful and may attract sharks. Other potentially dangerous areas include:

• River mouths and channels. This is where food, dead animals, and fish that are flowing down-stream enter the ocean, making them great spots for sharks to hang out.
• Areas where sewage enters the water. The sewage attracts fish, which will attract sharks.
• Deep channels, near sandbars, or where the reef or sand drops off steeply. Sharks lurk in these areas to catch fish that wander out of the shallows.
• Where large groups of shark prey hang out. If there are seals pupping nearby or a population of other marine animals in the area, sharks may be hunting nearby and could easily confuse you with prey.

What happens if you see a shark while scuba diving?

Don’t panic or swim away. If you encounter a shark while diving, it’s important to remain calm and avoid swimming away quickly. Swimming away quickly can trigger the shark’s predatory instincts, and it may start to follow you. Instead, remain still and slowly swim backward to keep a safe distance from the shark.

Don’t approach them too closely. While sharks can be fascinating to watch, keeping a safe distance is important. Getting too close to a shark can make it feel threatened, and it may become defensive. This can lead to dangerous situations for both the diver and the shark.

Don’t wear shiny jewelry. Sharks are attracted to shiny objects, and wearing jewelry while diving can attract them. It’s important to avoid wearing shiny jewelry or accessories that catch the shark’s attention.

Why are surfers not afraid of sharks?

Perhaps this lower level of fear is influenced by a consistent personality trait. Research has found people high in sensation-seeking, which is the tendency for people to pursue thrill-seeking experiences, view the risks of sharks as lower. It is plausible that many surfers are high on sensation-seeking, which may help explain why they perceive the risk of sharks to be low.

Post-rationalisation, or choice-support bias, is the tendency for people to ascribe positive attributes to a decision they have made, essentially to justify the decision. Surfers may downplay their fear of sharks to rationalise their decision to continue to surf, as their desire to surf is greater than their perceived risk of a shark bite.

How does this affect shark conservation?. Globally, it’s estimated humans kill 100 million sharks each year. A quarter of all shark species are now threatened with extinction, so actions to protect them are important.

Which shark kills most humans?

Indeed, the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) leads all other sharks in attacks on people and boats, as well as fatalities. Currently, the great white shark has been connected with a total of 354 total unprovoked shark attacks, including 57 fatalities (source: ISAF).

• Tiger sharks and great white sharks are among the most dangerous sharks, known for their aggressive nature and numerous attacks on humans.
• Despite their reputation, shark attacks are relatively rare compared to other animal-related incidents, and most sharks do not pose a significant threat to humans.
• Conservation efforts highlight the importance of understanding shark behavior and protecting these species from overfishing and habitat loss.

Poor sharks. They have a bad reputation, but are they really dangerous? After all, you’re more likely to be killed by a cow than a shark (source: Faletto). But nobody is making movies about deadly cownados.

Researchers love to throw around statistics like these to redeem sharks. Here’s another juicy one: In 2021, there were 17,989 instances of dogs biting humans, according to the Insurance Information Institute (source: III). That same year, there were just 75 unprovoked shark attacks off the U.S. coast (source: ISAF). That means you’re about 240 times more likely to be bitten by man’s best friend than you are by a shark.

How many surfers get attacked by sharks?

There were 18 deaths around the world attributed to sharks last year, four of them were surfers. In 2023 there were 84 shark attacks reported on public record. Of those, 18 were considered fatal, five of which were the result of great white sharks.

How rare is it to get killed by a shark?

The Florida Museum of Natural History compares these statistics with the much higher rate of deaths from other causes. For example, an average of more than 38 people die annually from lightning strikes in coastal states, while less than 1 person per year is killed by a shark in Florida. In the United States, the likelihood that a person who goes to beaches will be attacked by a shark is 1 in 11.5 million, and a person’s chance of getting killed by a shark is less than 1 in 264.1 million.

However, in certain situations the risk of a shark attack is higher. For example, in the southwest of Western Australia the chances of a surfer being fatally bitten by a shark in winter or spring are 1 in 40,000 and for divers it is 1 in 16,000. In comparison to the risk of a serious or fatal cycling accident, this represents three times the risk for a surfer and seven times the risk for a diver.

In comparison to previous years, ISAF reported a total of 57 unprovoked shark bites worldwide in 2022, which is lower than the past five-year average of 70 incidents annually. There were also 32 provoked bites, 4 boat bites, and a few other incidents classified differently, totaling 108 cases investigated by ISAF in 2022. This reflects a decrease in both fatal and non-fatal shark bites.

Only a few shark species are dangerous to humans. Out of more than 480 shark species, only three are responsible for two-digit numbers of fatal unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, tiger and bull. However, the oceanic whitetip has probably killed many more ship wreck and plane crash survivors, who have not been included in the statistics. These sharks, being large and powerful predators, may sometimes attack and kill people, even though all have been filmed in open water by unprotected divers. The 2010 French film Oceans shows footage of humans swimming next to sharks in the ocean. It is possible that the sharks can sense the presence of unnatural elements on or about the divers, such as polyurethane diving suits and air tanks, which may lead them to accept the divers as more of a curiosity than prey. Uncostumed humans, however, such as those surfboarding, light snorkeling or swimming, present a much greater area of exposed skin surface to sharks. In addition, the presence of even small traces of blood, recent minor abrasions, cuts, scrapes, or bruises, may lead sharks to attack a human in their environment. Sharks seek out prey through electroreception, sensing the electric fields that are generated by all animals due to the activity of their nerves and muscles.

Why don’t sharks eat scuba divers?

By and large sharks will tend to avoid contact with people. And for good reason. Worldwide deaths to humans from shark attacks, as stated above, average around ten a year. Worldwide deaths to sharks caused by humans could be as high as one hundred million a year. Around seventy-three million are killed by fishermen, mainly for their fins, which are widely used in Asia for shark-fin soup. Tens of millions more sharks are estimated to die each year, caught up in fishing gear intended for other species.

What Does Cause a Shark to Attack Humans?. Given that sharks don’t generally consider humans food, and that they have good reason to fear us, why do sharks attack people? The most common reason is likely to be that they get confused. Surfers or swimmers are mistaken for more natural prey such as seals, which spend a lot of time on the surface. The chances are the shark just takes a single bite then realizes its mistake. Since even a single shark bite can be large this isn’t much comfort to the person who’s been attacked.

Sharks might also attack a human if they’re feeling threatened. Or alternatively, if they’re already in the midst of a feeding frenzy and the person is swimming or diving amongst the intended prey. For these reasons, any diver who wants to dive with sharks should do some research. Understanding what might trigger one is very important when considering how to avoid a shark attack.

How many snorkelers get attacked by sharks?

Of the total 187 shark attacks recorded over the 57-year period, 112 victims were snorkelers, 62 scuba divers, and 13 were using a surface-supplied breathing apparatus. The attacks resulted in 28 deaths, most of the victims being snorkelers, followed by scuba divers and divers using surface-supply.

Diving with sharks is high up on many divers’ bucket lists, but they don’t exactly have the greatest of reputations. Attacks on surfers are common news, but what about scuba divers? Do sharks attack divers and should we be scared to get into the water with them? Let’s have a look at the statistics and what the experts are saying.

Yes, sharks do attack divers, whether provoked or unprovoked. However, attacks are extremely rare, as sharks don’t view scuba divers as a particularly appetizing prey. As such, diving with sharks is not considered a dangerous activity, although some encounters can pose more risks than others.

Most sharks are cautious of divers although, over the years, sharks have become bolder around people because of baiting. Since some dive operators use fish to attract the sharks, the latter may associate the arrival of the dive boat and the splashes made by scuba divers with food.

Is it safe to snorkel around sharks?

Always swim in a group: Sharks mostly attack when alone. Don’t wander too far from shores: The farther away you are from the beach, the farther away you are from help if a shark does attack.