Looks to me like those sharks think 'mericans are No. 1 too, No. 1 tasty
that is.

Florida may, in fact, be the world's shark attack capital, but it's hard to
tell.  The statistics are collected and analyzed here.  That, alone, can
skew the data.

There's really not much for statistics to disprove.  Either the numbers are
down or they're not.  The statistics cited are the best I know of.  I
presume they are accurate and that the number of attacks are down.  It is
the cause that I question rather severely.  Specifically because Florida is
the shark bite capital, anything we do here has a disproportionate impact on
the overall results and we've done several things that might have a direct
impact on the findings, at times that are consistent with them.

We banned gill netting years ago and, since then, have seen a marked
increase in fish stocks.  The data has been collected by those that track
such things, but still better proof comes from diver reports.  It's working.
Everybody pretty much accepts that sharks don't particularly like human
flesh.  It's no surprise to those who eat fish and mammal flesh.  The two
don't taste alike at all.  It just makes sense that increases in the natural
food would result in fewer hungry sharks and fewer attacks.

We banned long line fishing after that.  Interestingly, this should have had
positive effect on shark populations.  Sharks have always been a major
bycatch of long line fishermen.  The fishing, however, has always been done
well off shore, affecting pelagic species more than near shore ones and most
bites are near shore.

Finally, we banned fish feeding a year or so ago, primarily shark feeding.
If you ever dove the areas where sharks have been fed, you know beyond any
doubt that they are conditioned to associate people with food.  OK, so its
divers rather than swimmers and divers are not common shark bite victims.
Still, they contribute to the statistics every year and we don't know that
the conditioning doesn't carry over to non diving swimmers.  Regardless of
how important the association is or isn't, feeding did concentrate, and keep
sharks near shore.  That's not happening any more.

The article took a tree hugger position.  Shark attacks must be down because
shark populations are.  I'll leave it to the rest of the group to comment on
that, but here in Florida, I've noticed more sharks, not fewer.  I saw my
first Hammerhead on a rec.scuba dive not all that long ago.  It's not that I
have the answers, even though I do have opinions.  I just get annoyed at the
automatic reaction . . . less bites means less sharks.  That leads to
additional protections which may or may not be appropriate or even
beneficial.

Lee

Lee

Locally, the sharks frequently bite but they rarely swallow.

Hey, watch it buster.  We don't want them either.

Lee

I did. Getting bitten whe trying to clear a net etc.
But as you say someone who pokes at a shark, any shark, is looking for trouble.

Cheers,

Froggy