No. 1 in shark attacks? Florida

An attack is frightful, but seldom fatal. You're more likely to win the lottery or be struck by lightning.

©Associated Press

© St. Petersburg Times, published February 9, 2001

Nearly half of the reported 79 shark attacks around the world last year occurred in Florida waters.

Florida had 34 unprovoked attacks, according to a report released Thursday by the International Shark Attack File. The file is a compilation of all known shark attacks since 1958 and is housed at the University of Florida.

Thadeus Kubinski of St. Pete Beach was one of 10 people worldwide to die of a shark attack last year, but the only fatality in the United States.

Kubinski died last August in Pinellas County after he jumped off his dock near a feeding bull shark in Boca Ciega Bay.

It was the Tampa Bay area's first fatal shark attack since 1981, when a swimmer was killed trying to swim between Anna Maria Island in Manatee County and Egmont Key on a bet. Kubinski's death was the first in Pinellas believed attributable to a shark since 1922, when 18-year-old Dorothy McClatchie was attacked by a "monster fish" while swimming near a channel buoy about a mile off an Atlantic Coast Line railroad pier in St. Petersburg, an area now called Demens Landing.

"(Florida) has a huge number of people in the water and the number of person-hours in the water is probably higher than anywhere in the world," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File in Gainesville. "We have a tremendously long coastline with tropical waters, a huge native population and a bigger tourist population."

Of the other nine fatal attacks, three occurred in Australia, two in Tanzania and one each in Fiji; Japan; Papua, New Guinea; and New Caledonia, the French island territory in the South Pacific.

The chances of dying from a shark attack are very remote.

"There is a much better chance of getting struck by lightning than being attacked by a shark," said Gary Violetta, curator of fishes at SeaWorld Orlando.

The United States had 51 unprovoked attacks, followed by Australia with seven, South Africa with five and the Bahamas with four.

In the United States, Florida was followed by North Carolina (5), California (3), Alabama (2), Hawaii (2) and Texas (2).

In Florida, Volusia County had 12 shark attacks, followed by Palm Beach County with six, Brevard County with four and Monroe County with three. Indian River and St. Johns counties each had two. Lee, Manatee, Pinellas, Santa Rosa and St. Lucie each had one.

More people spending longer hours in the water and a growing number of tourists swimming in exotic, unfamiliar locales contributed to the increase from 1999's 58 attacks, even though there are fewer sharks than 20 years ago, Burgess said. In addition, more attacks are being reported to the file because of the Internet.

Most shark attacks are the result of mistaken identity. Arms splashing in the water may be confused with a school of fish, or large bodies may be mistaken for sea lions or other prey.

"A shark comes in and is looking for prey. It bites, doesn't recognize the taste and keeps on going," Violetta said.

Although the chances of being bit by a shark are smaller than winning the lottery, if you do find yourself in a shark's jaws, the best thing to do is kick, punch or try to jab the shark in the eyes or gills, Burgess said.

"Sharks certainly do respect size and power," he said. "Whether that is kicking or beating on the animal, those are things the shark understands and respects."

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