Tuesday 17 February 2015

Deadly shark attacks plummet to just three worldwide in 2014

Sharks had killed 10 in unprovoked attacks in 2013
Overall number of attacks holds steady at 73, many in US waters

Thursday 12 February 2015 21.31 GMT

Shark attacks killed three people worldwide in 2014, a dramatic drop from 10 fatalities a year earlier, researchers found in an annual global tally released this week.

Two of the deaths occurred in New South Wales in eastern Australia, and the other in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, according to the data which was submitted by scientists around the world and catalogued at the University of Florida.

The US recorded two-thirds of the 72 total attacks in 2014 that were unprovoked by people, the data showed. It said about half took place off Florida’s eastern coast, where smaller sharks mistake swimmers for prey in hit-and-run attacks, then quickly leave.

The number of overall attacks held relatively steady, dropping slightly from 75 incidents in 2013. What surprised researchers was the plunge in fatalities.

No comments:

Post a Comment

You only need to enter your comment once! Comments will appear once they have been moderated. This is so as to stop the would-be comedian who has been spamming the comments here with inane and often offensive remarks. You know who you are!

Related Posts with Thumbnails

ShareThis