Where Does New York State Rank For Shark Attacks?
Will you be attacked by a shark today? It's not something you necessarily think of everyday, In fact, the chances are very small. According to the International Shark Attack File, your odds of being killed by a shark are fatal is 1 in 3,748,067. You have a better chance of being in a motor vehicle accident or even being struck by lightning. But how often does it happen here in New York?
In a rather odd (and probably not totally serious) move, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado boasted over Twitter that his state was tied for the least amount of shark attacks in the nation. Well, that's great considering Colorado is totally landlocked. It also doesn't come as a surprise that the states where just about all the attacks have happened are on the ocean.
The top five from 2011 to 2021:
- Florida (239)
- Hawaii (36)
- South Carolina (43)
- North Carolina (32)
- California (29)
And New York? Four. The puts us at 8th overall. The last two came on the same day in July 2018, when a 13-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl were both bitten during two separate incidents. The attacks happened off Atlantique Beach and Sailors Haven respectively. Staten Island Live says both attacks were from sand tiger sharks. NBC says that since 1837, only ten attacks have been reported off the coast of New York. Also in 2018, a Westchester man was bitten about 30 yards off the coast of Cape Cod. MA. In July 2020, a woman from New York City was fatally attacked by a Great White off the coast of Maine.
Sharks sightings off the Long Island coast have been way up over the past two years, according to reports. But, as terrifying as this may sound, the chances are pretty slim especially for swimmers off the New York coast. But if you look at this map, you'll notice a few landlocked states where an attack actually happened. Some species, like bull sharks, are known to swim up rivers. There was also an incident in 2005, when a worker at the Albuquerque Aquarium was bitten at one of the exhibits.
This is the first, and hopefully the last, report of a dead humpback on our coast for 2021.