Australia confirmed as a shark attack hot spot

Australia remains a global shark attack hot spot, with the nation recording its highest number of unprovoked attacks in six years.

The International Shark Attack File, an annual worldwide study collated in the US, determined there were 18 unprovoked shark attacks in Australia in 2015, with 12 in NSW and one fatality.

In 2009 Australia had 22 unprovoked attacks.

The ISAF also found across the globe last year that there were 98 unprovoked attacks, beating the previous record of 88 set in 2000.

The rise came as no surprise to ISAF curator George Burgess, who noted the combination of rebounding shark populations and more humans in the water made increased attacks inevitable.

“Sharks plus humans equals attacks,” Mr Burgess said.

“As our population continues to rapidly grow and shark populations slowly recover, we’re going to see more interactions.”

There were six unprovoked fatal attacks worldwide in 2015, with two off the Indian Ocean island of Reunion and one each in Australia, the US, Egypt and New Caledonia.

The US, with its abundant, populated coastline, led the world in unprovoked attacks with 59, then Australia’s 18 and South Africa third with eight.

The ISAF, owned by the Smithsonian Institution and housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History, found 49 per cent of the attacks worldwide in 2015 involved surfers, 42 per cent were swimmers or waders and nine per cent snorkellers.

There were no attacks on SCUBA divers during the year.

The ISAF recommends a “proactive response” if attacked by a shark by hitting on the nose ideally with an inanimate object which usually temporarily curtails an attack.

Image credit: iStock

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Latest comments

mike says:
February 10, 2016 at 3:08 pm
More people have died from selfies than shark attacks this year.
Any chance of an article on that? Still plenty of ‘click-bait’ potential there I should think ..
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Anna Heinicke says:
February 10, 2016 at 1:03 pm
Bad photoshop job… If media and government would draw attention to the real reason why there are so many “shark attacks” we would find a solution… And dear Media, please stop spreading fear of sharks…
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