As television fans enjoy Shark Week 2019 on Discovery Channel, a new study was released which looked at the likelihood of encountering a shark on your beach vacation.
SafeWise analyzed data about the history of shark attacks in the United States since 2000 and found that attacks have increased in the Northeast in recent years due to warming ocean temperatures.
As a result, the warmer oceans have resulted in uncommon attacks from the Carolinas to Maine.
The research also found that Florida and Hawaii are the states with the most reported shark attacks, but there are still only about 44 incidents each year despite an estimated 91 million recreational swimmers annually.
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Over the last 20 years, there have been only 17 fatal shark attacks, but the overall number of nonfatal shark attacks has remained about the same, with 429 nonfatal attacks from 2000–2009 and 436 from 2010–2019.
SafeWise also found that men are the most likely to be attacked by a shark, with three out of every four victims being male. As for how rare fatal attacks are, the report claims people are more likely to die from the flu or excessive cold than a shark.
For travelers looking to stay safe, SafeWise has provided several tips, including swimming together, keeping the shore within sight, not entering the water at night and heeding all shark warnings.