Shark attack

A shark attack is an attack on a human by a shark. Every year, around 80 unprovoked attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, and horror fiction and films such as the Jaws series. Out of more than 500 shark species, only three of them are responsible for a double-digit number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, tiger, and bull. The oceanic whitetip has probably killed many more castaways, but these are not recorded in the statistics. While the term "shark attack" is in common use for instances of humans being wounded by sharks, it has been suggested that this is based largely on the assumption that large predatory sharks (such as great white, bull, and tiger sharks) only seek out humans as prey. A 2013 review recommends that only in instances where a shark clearly predates on a human should the bite incident be termed an "attack," implying predation. Otherwise, it is more accurate to class bite incidents as "fatal bite incidents". Sightings do include physical interaction, encounters including physical interaction with harm, shark bites include major shark bite incidents, including those that require medical attention, and fatal shark bite incidents result in death. The study suggests that only in a case where an expert validates the predatory intent of a shark would it be appropriate to term a bite incident an attack. According to the (ISAF), between 1958 and 2016 there were 2,785 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks around the world, of which 439 were fatal. Between 2001 and 2010, an average of 4.3 people a year died as a result of shark attacks. In 2000, there were 79 shark attacks reported worldwide, 11 of them fatal. In 2005 and 2006, this number decreased to 61 and 62 respectively, while the number of fatalities dropped to only four per year. The 2016 yearly total of 81 shark attacks worldwide was on par with the most recent five-year (2011–2015) average of 82 incidents annually.