According to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) report issued by the Florida Museum of Natural History, the number of "unprovoked" Shark incidents for 2023 is below the average for the last 10 years, but the number of fatalities increased slightly for the same period.
During 2023, the ISAF reported 69 unprovoked incidents. This number is slightly less than the average of 73 for the previous ten years. There were 10 fatalities last year, and this is a slight increase on the average 6 for the same period.
As is the trend, the U.S.A. tops the list with 36 reported incidents. Two of those were fatal. Australia reported 15 incidents 4 of which were fatal. Egypt, New Caledonia, Mexico and the Bahamas each reported one fatality.
I have been keeping records since 1990 and to date, there have been 2189 incidents of which 208 were fatal. That is 9.5%. When one considers the millions of people swimming and the thousands swimming with Sharks on a daily bases, these numbers are minimal. This chart shows the trend.
Considering that humans kill over 80 million sharks every year, it is the sharks that need to fear us, not the other way round.
