International Shark Attack File: 2023 Summary
The International Shark Attack File released their report for 2023 back in January of this year. It’s always interesting to review the data and dive in a bit.
The report, or at least the summary, focuses on “unprovoked bites”. Here are some definitions:
“Unprovoked bites” are defined as incidents in which a bite on a live human occurs in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark.
“Provoked bites” occur when a human initiates interaction with a shark in some way. These include instances when divers are bitten after harassing or trying to touch sharks, bites on spearfishers, bites on people attempting to feed sharks, bites occurring while unhooking or removing a shark from a fishing net and so forth.
Shark Attack File at a Glance: 2023
The number of unprovoked shark attacks for 2023 (69) was on par with the yearly average of 70. The prior year, 2022, was a bit of an outlier with only 57 bites.
Activity at the time of Unprovoked Shark Attack
The most common group of individuals involved in these shark-human accidents are usually surfers and those participating in board sports. This is likely because of the amount of time they spend in the surf zone. This area of the coast is frequented by sharks. In addition to the amount of time spent there, the splashing, wading, and falling off the boards are probably attracting the sharks interest. Here’s the data showing the water activity people were involved in at the time of the shark attack.
| Activity | 2022 Percentage | 2023 Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Swimming/Wading | 43% | 39% |
| Surfing/Board Sports | 35% | 43% |
| Snorkeling/Freediving | 9% | 13% |
| Other | 13% | 6% |
Shark Attack File: Incident Location
Where these shark attacks occur is certainly worth looking at. The United States again takes the leader spot in 2023. It accounts for over 50% of all unprovoked shark attacks worldwide! Australia is a distant 2nd, although 40% of the fatal shark bites occurred there. Beyond that, the number of attacks is almost negligible. Here’s a look at that data.
| Locality | Unprovoked Bites | Fatal Shark Attacks |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 36 | 2 |
| Australia | 15 | 4 |
| Egypt | 2 | 1 |
| South Africa | 2 | 0 |
| Brazil | 3 | 0 |
| New Caledonia | 3 | 1 |
| Bahamas | 1 | 1 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 |
| Costa Rica | 1 | 0 |
| Columbia | 1 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 1 | 0 |
| Galapagos | 1 | 0 |
| Seychelles | 1 | 0 |
| Turks and Caicos | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 69 | 10 |
Florida accounts for over 40% of the US shark attack totals (16/36) and actually nearly 25% of attacks worldwide (16/69)! This is also very consistent with the annual averages measured over the last 5 years. This year, there were 2 fatal shark attacks in the US, one each in California and Hawaii. There were no other fatalities in the US in 2023.
Check out more details of the International Shark Attack File 2023 Annual Report on the Florida Museum Website.
Please, do consider to ban the word “attack” when you talk about sharks. Sharks investigate what they can eat. Do you attack your food plate when you eat? “Attacks” is only a human word which creates fears therefore people determination to kill them instead of protect and respect them. Please considere “interactions” or “bites ” at the time to speak about sharks incounters. Thanks you.
Hi Fab! We completely agree! Unfortunately, we are in no position to change the name of the largest shark/human incident log out there.