Shark attacks off SA plummet‚ and they're cooling off worldwide too

Shark attacks were sharply down worldwide in 2016.

After a record 98 unprovoked attacks in 2015‚ 2016 produced 81 - and South Africa just one‚ according to the University of Florida International Shark Attack File.

Four of the attacks were fatal‚ a drop from six the previous year. The US had the most attacks‚ at 53. Australia had 15‚ including two fatalities.

Shark attacks remain on a slow upward trend as the human population grows and aquatic sports become more popular‚ said George Burgess‚ who keeps the file at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

“A shark attack is a human phenomenon‚” said Burgess‚ explaining that the 2015 spike was influenced by warmer waters produced by El Niño.

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“Sharks are a natural part of the ecosystem. The ocean is a foreign environment to humans‚ and when we enter the sea‚ we're entering a wilderness.”

The database defines unprovoked shark attacks as those initiated by a shark in its natural habitat. Burgess said many of these incidents might be more accurately called “human-shark interactions”‚ as not all attacks caused injury‚ and they could include a rough bump from a shark or a bite on a surfboard.

Some 58% of the attacks worldwide involved board sports. Surfing‚ boogie boarding and paddle boarding produce kicking and splashing - the kind of water disturbance that could draw a shark‚ Burgess said.

“Sharks are attracted to irregular activity‚ especially with the inevitable wipeout and the big splash that follows‚” he said. “If you have a shark trailing‚ that's often when it will strike.”

Two shark attacks in South Africa made the news last year‚ both involving surf-skis off Plettenberg Bay on the Garden Route‚ and it is not clear which of them made it onto Burgess’s list.

In December‚ a great white shark nearly bit Pretoria advocate Ben Swart’s surf-ski in half‚ and in April the same happened to Dave Manson.

In 2015‚ South Africa had eight attacks‚ still substantially lower than a record 17 in 1998.

– TMG Digital/TimesLIVE