There were 31 shark attacks in Florida in 2017 - the most anywhere in the world

2017 was considered an average year for shark attacks world-wide – and Florida continues to hold the dubious distinction of shark attack capitol of the world.

The International Shark Attack File investigated 155 incidents of alleged shark-human interaction in 2017; they found that 88 of the incidents were unprovoked.

Out of those there were 5 deaths world-wide.

The rest were "Provoked attacks" which happens when a diver grabs a shark, when someone gets bit feeding a shark, or they get bit while taking a shark off a hook or out of a net.

It also considered provoked when a shark bites a boat which happened 18 times in 2017.

The vast majority of sharks attacks happened in US waters.

There was a total of 53 unprovoked attacks in US waters last year, 31 of those happened in Florida – there were no shark related fatalities in US waters last year.

Volusia County had the most incidents with 9, followed by 7 in Brevard County.

There were 5 attacks in Palm Beach County and 3 each in Duval and 2 in Martin County.

Indian River, Okaloosa, St. Johns, St. Lucie, and Miami-Dade counties saw 1 shark attack each last year.

Additional U.S. attacks were recorded in South Carolina, Hawaii, and California, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.

Surfers make up about 59 percent of shark attack cases followed by swimmers and waders which make up 22 percent.


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