Swimmers stay aware: Sharks attacks may be on the rise this summer.
George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, said as more people enter the water and our population continues to rise, there are going to be higher chances of humans encountering sharks.
“Every time we enter the sea, it’s a wilderness experience,” Burgess said. “We enter the sea in an almost naked position, and we need to remember that when we go into the water we are visitors to that environment. We are not owed 100 percent safety.”
An increase in aquatic recreational activities also contributes to the rise in attacks. Surfing and boogie boarding creates splashing and movements that are considered provocative to sharks.
Florida shark attacks are most often considered a “hit and run,” where a shark takes one bite and swims away. The No. 1 culprit for this type of attack is the Blacktip shark.
UF surf club president John Wilson said he recently spotted a Blacktip shark surfing in the same wave as his younger brother. Because this happens frequently, his family has developed hand signs to indicate when sharks are in the water.
“We wave our right hand like a Seminole tomahawk,” Wilson said. “We (surfers) spend time in dirty water making it difficult for sharks to identify what they are looking at. Many times, people have fallen off a wave and landed on a shark.”
Wilson suggests that surfers keep an eye out for schools of baitfish or birds flying overhead, which are good indications that larger sharks and fish may be in the area.
Swimmers should also avoid murky waters and swimming at dawn or twilight, Burgess said. If attacked by a shark, it’s best to get into a defensive position and fight back, hitting the shark on its nose, gills or poking its eye. Playing dead will not deter an aggressive shark.
In 2013, 23 people were bitten by sharks in Florida, and 24 more across the U.S., according to shark attack statistics by the Florida Museum of Natural History. Volusia County in East Central Florida has had 257 shark attacks since 1882.
“You are going into the sharks habitat,” Wilson said. “You need to be mindful of that.”
[A version of this story ran on page 11 on 7/17/2014 under the headline "More people, more shark attacks"]
