Decrease in shark attacks in U.S.

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Altamira

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I found the following article on Accuweather.com today. I certainly can't vouch for the data, but found it interesting, and was not aware that there were 59 shark attacks in the U.S. in 2015.

Decrease in US shark attacks following record year may be linked to fading El Nino
By Brian Lada, Meteorologist
August 30, 2016; 9:08 AM ET

The number of shark attacks in the United States has been well below normal this year, and the dissipation of El Niño may be to thank.

Last year, there were 59 shark attacks in the United Sates, which went down as the highest number of attacks on record in a year, the International Shark Attack File reported.

However, the number of shark attacks this year has dropped drastically with only 24 shark attacks in U.S. waters. Over the past few years, there has been an average of about 53 shark attacks per year in the U.S.

650x366_08300132_screen-shot-2016-08-29-at-9.31.57-pm.jpg
(Whitepointer/iStock/Thinkstock)

Accord to George Burgess, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File, the primary reason behind this sharp decline in attacks is the fading of the El Niño pattern.

"It's been a low year [for shark attacks] this year compared to last year, and we can pretty much directly attribute some of that reduction to the diminishment of El Niño," Burgess said.

El Niño is a phenomenon that corresponds with warmer ocean waters in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean centered around the equator. La Niña is the opposite, corresponding with cooler ocean waters in the same region.

"Last year was an El Niño year, so we saw a lot of environmental changes," Burgess said. "The most notable change was the warmer water temperatures along the West and East coasts of the United States."

"Warmer water temperatures promote the movement of tropical or sub-tropical animals up the coast, allowing them to go farther north and allowing them to stay longer before winter comes around," Burgess added.

This translates to a higher chance for sharks attacks in El Niño years since sharks inhabit coastal waters for a longer part of the year.

La Niña causes the opposite effects of El Niño, hindering tropical and sub-tropical sharks from moving well up the coast, ultimately leading to a lower number of shark attacks, according to Burgess.
 
Interesting stuff. Has me wondering just which species of shark saw the attack rate declines. Great Whites, for example, are a colder water shark. It's been pointed out in another thread that a number of 'shark attacks' amount to a bite by a smaller species, and are often more 'minor' than commonly assumed (of course, it may not seem minor to the recipient!).

Richard.
 
You could make the number even less is someone educated all th tourists who
A) try to feed it
B) try to hit it and provoke it
C) play on some inflatable sea creature that the shark will eat thinking he got himself a free snack.
 
Is there anything that they won't associate with El Nino? It's never ending. We had a blizzard blanketing the country - el nino! We had a heat wave across the country - el nino! A mouse farted in Iowa - el nino! I'm guessing the presidential election in november will be decided due to el nino.
 
Being that the majority of attacks happen in Florida and tourism has been hit hard with the Lake O discharges, coupled with a stagnant economy, I'm going to go with fewer people in the water and not El Niño. The Sharks are still here and active as ever. I saw several while diving last week.
 
Being that the majority of attacks happen in Florida and tourism has been hit hard with the Lake O discharges, coupled with a stagnant economy, I'm going to go with fewer people in the water and not El Niño. The Sharks are still here and active as ever. I saw several while diving last week.

Maybe not. Florida tourism has increased every year for the past 5 years, and 2016 is likely up again.

ORLANDO, Fla. – Today, Governor Rick Scott announced that Florida set another record in tourism by welcoming 105 million visitors in 2015, according to VISIT FLORIDA. This is the fifth consecutive record year for visitation to Florida, exceeding the previous high of 98.5 million in 2014 by 6.6 percent. The average number of direct travel-related jobs in 2015 was also a record high, with 1,199,200 Floridians employed in the tourism industry – up 53,400 or 4.7 percent over the same period last year.
 

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