Worldwide there are probably 70-100 shark attacks annually resulting in about 5 deaths. We say “probably” because not all shark attacks are reported; our information from Third World countries is especially poor, and in other areas efforts are sometimes made to keep attack quiet for fear of bad publicity.
While the term “shark attack” is in common use for instances of humans being wounded by sharks, it has been suggested that this is based largely on the assumption that large predatory sharks (such as great white, bull, and tiger sharks) only seek out humans as prey. A 2013 review recommends instances where a shark clearly predates on a human should the bite incident be termed an “attack, ” implying predation. Otherwise, it is more accurate to class bite incidents as “fatal bite incidents”. Sightings do include physical interaction, encounters including physical interaction with harm, shark bites include major shark bite incidents, including those that require medical attention, and fatal shark bite incidents result in death. The study suggests that only in a case where an expert validates the predatory intent of a shark would it be appropriate to term a bite incident an attack.
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