Shark Conspiracies
Pro-Shark • Pro-Truth
- Unprovoked shark attacks related to disasters-at-sea are NOT included in the general unprovoked attack stats in many databases, including the International Shark Attack File (ISAF). Additionally, attacks on people on boats, canoes, kayaks and rafts are also left off of the lists of unprovoked attacks.
- People who disappear at sea are automatically considered drownings when no hard evidence is available.
- LIGHTNING: When we’re told we’re more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark, that is not necessarily the case. Geographic locations vary considerably. For example, in California, there were 8 lightning fatalities between 1990 and 2003, while the state recorded 35 unprovoked shark attacks, just between 1990 and 1999. Therefore, ocean-goers in California are more likely to be attacked by a shark than killed by lightning.
- Latest stats show that the USA has about 50% of all worldwide shark attacks. This could indicate a lack of effective reporting in other countries, which means there are many more worldwide attacks than are currently known.
- The number of attacks does not always correlate to the numbers of people in the water. Attacks in Hawaiian waters are a good example (see "BeachNumbers.doc" in the Important Links box).
- George Burgess, speaking at the 2002 Shark Attack News Conference, told the audience that he established relationships with Florida Lifeguard organizations in 1993 to open communications with them. Magically, in 1994, reports of attacks in the state started climbing. This could indicate that reporting of shark incidents in other states, who have not had the benefit of such relationship building, may not be entirely thorough.
- Statistic commonly quoted is that 150 people a year are killed worldwide by coconuts, while only 10 people killed by sharks. Problem is that the coconut figure is approximate - a guess, while the shark stat is only recorded, verified deaths. This is dishonest.
- When a city cites numbers for shark attacks at its beaches, those numbers only include attacks at "city beaches," which in many cases represents a small fraction of actual beaches within or near city boundaries. Often, the term "city beaches" refers only to beaches with at least one city lifeguard stand.
- It is likely that few, if any shark attacks are reported in many parts of the world, including, but not limited to: North Korea, several nations around the Persian Gulf, Somalia and other African nations, remote Pacific Islands, several of Indonesia’s 17,500 remote islands, Cuba, and many Chinese coastal areas.
- A recently released stat suggests that fatalities from sand hole collapses are more likely than fatalities from shark attacks in the U.S. If you add fatal shark attacks from “disasters-at-sea,” however, and also add a small percentage of deaths listed as “drownings,” the number of deaths falls more heavily on the shark attack side, thereby negating the misleading statistic.
Important Links
Mood Audio for Site: Recorded at Anacapa Island, March , 2007
Chew on These Little Tidbits
Shark Conspiracies believes that sharks deserve protection, and are a crucial part of the marine ecosystem. We support and appreciate the numerous sites and organizations dedicated to shark conservation.
