In Australia, seven people were killed by sharks in 2020, and the number of deaths from shark attacks is approaching the highest record in a century. Prior to this, sharks killed the most people in 1929, when 9 people were attacked and killed by sharks.
Shark attacks have caused anxiety in communities along the coast of Australia, but statistics show that if the number of deaths and injuries are combined, 2020 will not be particularly prominent. According to the Australian official data shark attack file, there will be 21 incidents of shark attack casualties in 2020.
In the past 10 years, there have been an average of 20 shark attack casualties each year, and in 2015, there were 32 shark attack casualties reported, of which two died. It is actually very rare to be killed by a shark. The records of the past 100 years show that the average number of deaths per year is only 0.9, which is less than one person.
One of the people killed by a shark attack in 2020 was using a spearfishing, which was classified as a “provocative action” because the shark might launch an attack as a result.
Six other people died in a “non-provocative attack”. Due to too little historical data, researchers are currently unable to fully determine the exact reason for the shark’s non-provocative attack.
In some shark attacks, eyewitnesses found schools of fish at the scene, which may be one of the reasons that attracted sharks.
But Hart, an assistant professor of biology at Macquarie University, said, “Whether to be attacked by sharks is largely determined by luck.”
He noticed that most of the attacked were surfers, not swimmers, which meant that The attack took place in the sea where the water was deeper and farther away from the shore.
In addition, if the shark attack occurs in a place where there is no hospital nearby, then luck is not good, and the chance of death is higher.
In 2019, Hart and colleagues conducted an integrated study of 100 years of shark archives and temperature and rainfall data. They found that climate and ocean climate forecasts can help determine where shark attacks are more likely.
They determined the climatic factors for shark attacks in certain locations. For example, there may be significant rainfall in the area, forming small areas of cooler waters in estuaries and coastal areas.
Hart said there may be schools of fish in these locations, which attract sharks to hunt.
Scientists now know that climate change will affect the flow of ocean currents in the ocean. Hart said that depending on changes in environmental factors, shark attacks will increase or decrease, but he emphasized that a reliable and accurate relationship has not yet been established between the two.
In addition to external environmental factors, the behavior patterns of sharks themselves are also elusive for scientists.
Hart said that there are many reasons why sharks open their mouths and bite. In addition to predation, they may also be attacking threats, protecting their range of activities, or treating humans as food, or even just biting to see what it is.
In many cases, sharks may just bite off the surfboard as a slow-swimming seal.
If sharks really love to eat people, there should be more shark attacks, because there are thousands of sharks roaming in the waters around Australia at any time.
From this point of view, surfers and those who love to go to the beach to play in the water need to understand that the ocean is not exclusive to humans, but a shared space, and it will be accompanied by certain risks.
Naylor, head of the Shark Research Project in Florida, USA, and his colleagues made the following suggestions to help people stay safe in shark-infested waters.
1. Avoid swimming alone, try to swim
in groups 2. Avoid swimming around dawn or dusk
3. Avoid schools of fish, especially when they jump out of the water.
4. Avoid wearing jewelry, because metal will reflect light, and the reflection of the watch is like a flying fish to sharks.
5. Avoid excessive splashing of water, because sharks will be attracted by the noise of injured animals.
6. Wearing a black or dark diving suit when diving can reduce the chance of attracting the attention of sharks.
