Shark Attacks Decline

CD: Seems like journalists like to hype things where sharks are concerned--particularly with regard to attacks.

GB: Some of the headlines we saw based on our shark attack information was predicated by writers who are aware of just that and wanted to push that angle. And then there are some who wanted to push the other angle, which was that if there are less sharks, then there are less attacks, and so that's good.

CD: How did you feel when you saw the headlines on Time and other magazines that were declaring 2001 The Summer of the Shark?

GB: Obviously it was great exaggeration and people bought it. We tried our best to simmer things down, but we only made little inroads. Then 9-11 happened and put everything into perspective. I went from 30 press interviews a day and then that was the last time I talked sharks for weeks.

CD: Well, let's talk about recent events -- like the attacks in Hawaii and at Avila Beach, California, and your study of Florida. First off, what causes there to be so many sharks off the coast of Florida. If you surf in Palm Beach, or New Smyrna, they're just a fact of life. What are the factors?

Photo: Mark Snyderman, Courtesy Surfline/Swell

GB: Well, Florida clearly has a subtropical to tropical environment. Those warm waters are attractive to many species of shark. Unlike California where you've got cool water and very few species of shark, albeit one very big one. The fact of the matter is that we've got dozens of species or more that you can encounter in those waters off Florida with great regularity. Florida is also a very productive fishery area, with lots of fish. There are going to be predators chasing those fish. You also have, getting back to our human/shark equation, lots of people entering Florida waters. They're warm and comfortable. Florida is the fourth most populous state in the country, and going to the water is a way of life for Floridians.

On top of that, you've got an enormous tourist population. So the amount of person-hours being spent in the water in Florida surpasses any other place in the world. The coastline, of course is also enormous.

Then you throw in surfers. We have lots of surfers, and they're going to go to the best available waves. So that area, in particular, near Ponce Inlet and New Smyrna Beach, is the most popular site in Florida. The waves are pretty decent, there is an inlet there, there've been jetties put in that change the sand flow and improve the inlet. You've got great movement of water in and out, along with animals that go back and forth. Sharks love inlets because they're a great place to make a living. You throw in lots of surfers and that's why we have so many sharks in that area, and so many reported attacks.

Volusia County: Prime Habitat for Surfers and Sharks
Photo: Dugan/Surfline

CD: That's as good a definition as I've yet heard. What about Hawaii? Are we looking at similar tropical factors there?

GB: Well, you've got similar factors, but you don't have as big a native human population as you do in Florida. In Hawaii, you also have a more tropical, insular environment, so you don't see the numbers or varieties of sharks there. However, in Florida, you don't have concerns about getting hit by the big three or four -- whites, bulls and tigers are the ones you're most concerned about in attacks. The sharks people get bitten by in Florida are usually smaller, non-attacking type species. Black tips, spinners, black nose and even the little sharp nose sharks that only get to be about three feet in length. What we get in those situations are lots of cases of mistaken identity -- tons of people splashing around in low-visibility water and these sharks make a mistake, they're going after baitfish, but they misinterpret the splashing of hands and feet. That's why surfers and boogie boarders are more prone to attack .

CD: Then in Hawaii, you're talking about big boys.

GB: Right. There, you don't have as many species in the surf zone. But tigers are the ones you worry about mostlly. Of course, if one bites you, you've got a very serious problem. But from that standpoint, attack numbers are still lower in Hawaii compared to Florida. And in California, there are also of course, relatively few attacks. But in both cases, because the species are large -- tigers and whites -- the consequences can be more severe. We may have 15 times more attacks in Florida, but in Hawaii or California, you may have that one or two a year that result in serious injury or death.

CD: We had that poor woman who got killed at Avila Beach in California by a great white, and then Bethany Hamilton who lost her arm in Hawaii to a tiger shark.

GB: Exactly.

CD: In addition to addressing many surfers in this article, you're also addressing a lot of surfer fishermen -- especially in Florida. I know that when I was growing up in South Carolina fishing, there were several times I'd bring in a little foot long black tip. I'm embarrassed to say it, but it was a shark, and so there were times I'd just let it flop til it was dead on the pier. I didn't think that perhaps this shark was contributing to a healthy ocean ecosystem. What do you say to folks who might not look at sharks as important?

Photo: NOAA

GB: Well, surfers are the number one group in my eye, in terms of aquatic recreation user groups, who have the perspective right. That perspective is that when we enter the sea, we're entering a wilderness, and we're invaders to that wilderness. As such, it's incumbent on us to accept the risks that can occur when you go out there. Surfers as a group know this better than anyone else. Injuries can occur, people can drown, and equally important, when you're sitting out there on your board, you're seeing the fish swimming by you and you realize that you're truly at one with that environment. As such, surfers in my mind have a very enlightened view. It's a very rare indeed when I interview a surfer who's been bitten who doesn't say, 'it comes with the territory, I know that risk and will be back next week'.

In the ocean, you're entering a foreign environment that, as an ecosystem is every bit as complex and important as the plains of Africa. You wouldn't think about going to the plains of Africa and not considering that there are lions, leopards and elephants and rhinos that can do you damage.

CD: In a way too though, with our guns, we also have dominion over those animals on the African plain.

GB: Right. Relative to a shark flopping around on a pier or on a deck, the next step becomes a no-brainer. There's no reason to kill a shark, a jellyfish or any kind of fish just to kill it. If we're going to harvest it and eat it within some level of reason, that's okay. But there's absolutely no reason to kill something because we don't like the way it looks or it has the outside possibility of causing us damage somewhere down the line, anymore than we should be stomping on every bug that crosses our path on the sidewalk.

Photo: NOAA

CD: Well, relative to attacks, what will you be studying next?

GB: Well, there are different possibilities as to why the decline is occurring. We'll watch it a lot more carefully over the next several years to see if it continues. If it does, then we might let the headline out that the decline in sharks worldwide is having the overpowering influence on the decline in attacks. You can't say that yet, but what you can't deny is that sharks are in decline worldwide.

www.sharktrust.org

International Shark Attack File 2003 Shark Attack Summary