This may sound self-contradictory , but while there has been a rise in the figure of masses bitten by sharks , the real risk of being involved in an attack has fall significantly . According to anew work , the individual risk of a somebody insert Californian waters being involve in a shark fire is 91 % low than it was in 1950 .
To come to this conclusion , scientist from Stanford University looked at both ocean utilization by humans , for example swimming or other recreational activities , and shark attack record off the seacoast of California between 1950 and 2013 . Although it ’s unmanageable to determine how much time an mortal would typically expend in thewater , they establish that the chances of suffering a bite in this region are minuscule , but the endangerment also depends on what you ’re doing .
For example , the mind of Aqua-Lung divers can be put at ease with a one in 136 million chance of an attack , and while the risk for surfer may be high , it ’s still only one in 17 million . Scuba underwater diver are in reality far more likely – 6,897 times , to be accurate – to end up in infirmary for activity - touch aesculapian problem , like decompressing sickness , than for being bitten . And those who enter the water are almost 2,000 time more likely to die from drowning than an flack .
The focus of this study may have been California , but that does not necessarily mean the figures do not reflect the rest of the U.S. , or the world for that matter . According to International Shark Attack File ( ISAF ) theatre director George H. Burgess , the findings appear to beconsistent with worldwide attack figure .
If we look at the ISAF ’s stats , collect by the Florida Museum of Natural History , the odds of a shark attempt across all U.S. coastal waters in the year 2000 was justone in 11.5 million , but drowning was one in 3.5 million . Now , it ’s not necessary to direct out the number of injury citizenssustained from toiletsin a year for turn out a stop , but it ’s plain to see that the threat of shark flak is still minor , despiterecent reportsof onslaught that could lead many to consider that they are becoming more commonplace .
So why have there been slenderly more attacks ? Quite simply – more people are entering the water supply . The world ’s universe is growing all the time , as is the popularity of amateur water sportswoman . As foreground byNational Geographic , the identification number of people live along Californian coasts has triple since the ‘ 50s , intend there are plenty more swimmer , surfboarder and divers splashing around .
Although it ’s difficult to nail why the peril has fallen so dramatically , the Stanford survey suggests thatdeclining shark numbers , in particular great whites , could be playing a role . Alternatively , stamp populations seem to be boom , meaning sharks have plenty of other quarry to center their attention on .
Even though the chances of sustain an attack are tiny , the chance still exists if you put down the water . So what ’s the best way to avoid it ? Certainly not cull , the research worker say , which has been depict to have no core on the danger of an encounter , primarily because those dispatch tend to be the ones that do n’t actually pose a peril to world . Instead , it would be far respectable to monitor sharks and determine when and where the safest spot to put down the ocean are , helping people make informed determination .
The results of this subject area are due to be published inFrontiers in Ecology and the Environmentlater this month .
