Australia has suffered another fatal shark attack after a surfer was bitten in the country's south, making it the fourth fatal shark attack in the region in 18 months.
Shark bites are often traumatic events, and in an ocean-loving country like Australia, each new bite can trigger fears of marine predators.
But what do we know about shark bite rates in Australia, and are people's fears justified?
Are deaths from shark bites on the rise?
Dr Darryl McPhee studies unprovoked shark bites at Bond University.
He said an average of 2.7 people died from shark bites in Australia between 2014 and 2023, compared to 1.8 in the previous 10 years.
He said the long-term trend in shark bites in Australia was due in part to population growth, with “more people in the ocean”.
“The risk of being bitten by a shark remains extremely low, and the risk of dying from a bite is even lower,” he says.
Are there more shark bites in Australia than in other countries?
In 2023, there were 10 fatal shark bites worldwide, four of which occurred in Australia, and three of which occurred off the coast of South Australia, where Appleby went missing. Researchers are still checking data for 2024.
Dr. Gavin Naylor is the director of the shark research program at the Florida Museum of Natural History. international shark attack file – Verified database of global shark incidents.
Naylor said 2024 was “fairly quiet” in shark bites globally, although the data is not yet finalized.
Why do shark deaths occur more often in Australia than elsewhere?
“Australians are natural swimmers,” says Naylor. “They're sporty and like they're in the ocean, so it's no wonder there are a lot of bites. We'll continue to see a higher rate of fatal bites in Australia.”
But Mr Naylor said Australia's coast rescue services were “second to none” in responding to bites, which was likely keeping the death toll down.
a 2022: Study of 200 years of Australian shark bite records Researchers have found that the proportion of people who survive a bite has increased significantly in recent decades. This is likely due to people being closer to helpers, riding surfboards or other personal watercraft, and improved emergency response.
If you are bitten by a great white shark, you have an 88% chance of surviving if you are riding a watercraft such as a kayak or surfboard, but if you are swimming or diving, your chance of survival drops to 45%. .
What is the risk of being attacked by a shark in Australia?
Currently, the mortality rate in Australia is approximately 3 people die each year from shark bites. 150 people drowned along the coast From July 2023 to June 2024, including 84 drownings on beaches.
“You're about 20 times more likely to drown at the beach than die from a shark attack,” McPhee says.
Who is most likely to be attacked by a shark?
“We've gone from mostly swimmers being bitten to mostly surfers being bitten,” McPhee said.
He said surfing spread around the world after World War II, and the sport has become increasingly popular.
“Surfers spend more time in the water and go farther,” he says.
Naylor points out that surfers hang out around surf breaks where the water is murky. That's where sharks may be foraging, but it's also a place where visibility is poor.
“Sharks then make mistakes,” he says. Sharks bite to investigate potential prey.
Research shows that although not undocumented, sharks rarely intentionally target humans as prey.
“If sharks were targeting humans, there would be many more deaths, but that's not the case,” says Naylor.
Why are people afraid of sharks when the risk is so small?
McPhee said there are four main reasons why people fear sharks.
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Through evolution, humans tend to fear things that our ancestors feared, such as bears, snakes, and sharks.
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Fear is heightened when humans can instantly visualize danger, he says, and the theme song from the 1975 film Jaws helps people immediately think of sharks.
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Humans have a greater fear of things they don't seem to have control over.
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Fear of what exists now is greater, and media stories about shark bites attract people's attention.
“There's a reason Discovery Channel has shark week but not shrimp week,” he says.
Dr Brianna Le Basque from the University of South Australia studies public perceptions of sharks.
She said people tend not to be afraid of drowning, even though the number of people who die from shark bites far exceeds that of shark bites, adding, Because I'm afraid of it,” he said.
“People know that they can swim and that they can control their actions in the water. At least, that's their perception.”
Her home state of South Australia has seen four fatal shark attacks in the past 18 months, including the most recent one.
“There's something called recency bias. We tend to remember the last thing we heard,” she says.
“It's natural for people to be afraid of sharks because they can hurt us. [But] Our perception of risk is skewed… if we hear about something all the time, we think it's more common than it actually is. ”
