Final 2023 Shark Attack Report Reveals Double the Fatalities

We hear about shark sightings all the time from California to the Northeast and Cape Cod as well as Florida. The United States is filled with world-class beaches as well as hidden gems and local hot spots surrounded by the ocean that we swim in basically year-round in one region or another.

Life's a beach, right?

So what happened in 2023? The number of fatal shark attacks around the world doubled compared to 2022 according to the International Shark Attack File or ISAF which is a database of global shark attacks operated at the University of Florida.

According to CBS News, the number of deadly shark attacks doubled from 5 in 2022 to 10 in 2023. They are relatively rare overall so that number is alarming according to the  ISAF

Meanwhile, the numbers that can hit home a bit more are the non-fatal shark attacks which are more common reaching 120 both provoked and unprovoked for 2023. 69 were provoked up several from 2022 and 22 were provoked resulting in 10 deaths around the world including two in the United States.

While 40% of the deadly attacks happened in Australia, the rest of the international attacks were in the Bahamas, Mexico, Egypt, and New Caledonia.

Meanwhile, two of the deadly attacks were in the United States however surprisingly not in Florida where nearly half of all attacks happen in the country. One of the deadly attacks was in Hawaii and the other in California in 2023 according to the ISAF.

So what are our numbers here in the US for 2023?

California had three including the fatality, Hawaii had nine including the fatality, Florida had 16, the Carolinas had five, New York had four, and New Jersey had one.

If you want to see the complete count since 1837 when monitoring started, click here.