Final week, three individuals had been injured in two shark assaults that occurred lower than two hours and 5 miles other than one another on seashores in Florida’s panhandle.
There’s no seashore in Florida the place it’s unimaginable to return throughout a shark. It’s dwelling to the “Shark Chew Capital of the World.” And though shark assaults are uncommon, they nonetheless occur yearly within the Sunshine State.
However the space the place these assaults occurred, Walton County, is considered one of three Florida counties that solely had one unprovoked shark chew recorded in Worldwide Shark Assault File within the final 140 years.
Listed below are the counties in Florida that see probably the most shark assaults, which areas see the least and when sharks are most lively in Florida.
Which a part of Florida has probably the most shark assaults?
The one scientifically verified database of its sort on the earth, the Worldwide Shark Assault File (ISAF) is a worldwide database of shark assaults, and is stored by the Florida Museum of Pure Historical past in Gainesville, Florida.
Based on the ISAF, the county with probably the most shark assaults within the state is Volusia County, which is the “Shark Chew Capital of the World” and residential to seashores like Daytona, New Smyrna and Ormond Seaside.
Volusia County’s 47 miles of seashore have seen 351 recorded unprovoked shark assaults from 1882 by current day, in accordance with the ISAF.
From 2012 to 2021, there have been 94 shark bites recorded in Volusia County. In 2023, Volusia County represented 50% of the shark bites in Florida that 12 months (eight of 16 whole bites statewide).
The 2 assaults that occurred within the panhandle occurred in Walton County, which solely had one recorded unprovoked shark assault within the ISAF earlier than June 7, 2024.
Listed below are the highest 10 Florida counties with probably the most shark bites and what number of bites have occurred in every county since 1882, in accordance with the Worldwide Shark Assault File:
- Volusia County, 351
- Brevard, 158
- Palm Seaside, 83
- Duval, 46
- St. Johns, 45
- Martin, 41
- St. Lucie, 39
- Indian River, 22
- Monroe, 21
- Miami-Dade, 20
What seashore in Florida has the least quantity of shark bites?
Listed below are the Florida counties with the least shark bites and what number of bites have occurred in every county since 1882, in accordance with the Worldwide Shark Assault File:
- Santa Rosa, 1
- Charlotte, 1
- Walton, 1 (Earlier than three individuals had been bitten on Friday, June 7)
- Franklin, 2
- Gulf, 2
- Okaloosa, 4
- Manatee, 5
- Flagler, 6
- Escambia, 7
- Sarasota, 7
What months are sharks most lively in Florida?
Based on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Fee (FWC) “shark exercise is at its peak in Florida waters throughout April by October, which coincidentally, can also be the time interval that people usually tend to be within the water.”
“Sharks sometimes transfer inshore and north within the spring and summer time, and offshore and south in fall and winter months.”
How are you going to keep away from a shark chew?What to know earlier than swimming in Florida waters
What time of day are sharks most lively in Florida?
Based on the FWC, sharks are most lively at night time and the twilight hours (proper earlier than dawn and proper after sundown).