Category Archives: Sharks

Florida still world’s shark bite capital – but attacks on humans lowest in decade

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Across the world there were 57 unprovoked shark bites in 2022, most of which occurred in the US and Australia

Florida has retained its title as the shark bite capital of the world, according to new figures, but globally the number of such attacks on humans is at its joint lowest level for a decade.

Across the world there were 57 unprovoked shark bites in 2022, most of which occurred in the United States and Australia, said the University of Florida’s international shark attack file, a renowned resource that published its annual data on Monday.

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Bull shark likely behind fatal bite on 16-year-old Stella Berry in Perth’s Swan River

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Experts urge swimmers to be cautious as more sharks are in the local estuaries at this time of year

Marine experts have warned more sharks will be swimming in estuaries at this time of year after a 16-year-old girl was killed in an attack in Perth’s Swan River.

The girl, identified as Stella Berry, was pulled from the water on Saturday afternoon with critical injuries, understood to have been to her legs, but despite the efforts of paramedics she died at the scene.

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Teenage girl killed in suspected shark attack in Perth’s Swan River

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Australian police say 16-year-old jumped from her jetski to swim after possible dolphin sighting nearby

A teenage girl has been killed in a suspected shark attack in Western Australia after she jumped from her jetski into a river, police said.

The 16-year-old was pulled from the Swan River in Perth with critical injuries. Emergency personnel provided medical assistance at the scene but she died, said Insp Paul Robinson, of Western Australia police.

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Endangered shark sold as flake in South Australia fish and chip shops, study finds

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Calls for better food labelling as investigation claims that only around one-third of fish is flake, with served species including rare narrownose smooth-hound

Fish and chip shop customers in South Australia are eating threatened and imported shark species labelled as “flake” with less than a third of servings meeting seafood labelling standards, according to an investigation by the University of Adelaide.

The Australian Fish Names Standard says only two types of shark – gummy shark and New Zealand rig – should be sold as flake in Australia.

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Sydney shark attack: beaches in north closed after dolphin mauled

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Lifeguards close Shelly and Manly beaches after attack by multiple bull sharks

A shark attack on a dolphin has forced lifeguards to clear swimmers from the water on Sydney’s northern beaches.

The attack by multiple bull sharks off Shelly Beach near Manly occurred about 7am on Saturday, Surf Life Saving New South Wales (SLSNSW) said.

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‘Extinction crisis’ of sharks and rays to have devastating effect on other species, study finds

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Almost two-thirds of sharks and rays living on world’s coral reefs at risk, with 14 of 134 species reviewed critically endangered

Almost two-thirds of sharks and rays that live around the world’s coral reefs are threatened with extinction with potentially dire knock-on effects for ecosystems and coastal communities, according to new research.

Overfishing was the main cause of the declines over the past half a century, with larger sharks and rays being particularly hard hit.

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Queensland urged to end its ‘failing’ shark nets and drum lines program

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Scientists call on government to replace lethal control measures amid criticism of its use of federal money at the Great Barrier Reef

Scientists are urging the Queensland government to remove shark nets and traditional drum lines from coastlines, saying “ineffective” lethal methods are inhumane, amid criticism of the state’s use of federal money for measures at the Great Barrier Reef.

Lawrence Chlebeck, a marine biologist at Humane Society International, said Queensland’s lethal shark control program is “failing” on both environmental and public safety fronts and should be “discontinued”.

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California woman describes harrowing shark attack: ‘I saw it clamp my leg’

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The 50-year-old, who survived the encounter, is being treated for the wounds to her upper right thigh

A California woman has given her first interviews about surviving a shark attack while swimming off the coast of San Diego.

Lyn Jutronich, 50, said she was resting in the water during her morning ocean swim when something rammed her hard out of the water.

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‘He’s a lucky lad’: teenager sent flying into water as shark bites surf ski at Adelaide beach

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Nathaniel Drummond, 19, was competing in a race at South Australia’s Seacliff Beach when the large shark attacked his vessel

A teenager escaped unscathed after a “big shark” attacked his surf ski during a race at an Adelaide beach, tearing a hole in the vessel.

Nathaniel Drummond, 19, was competing in a surf ski race at Seacliff Beach in Adelaide’s south on Sunday when a shark, believed to be a great white, sent him flying into the water.

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Drone footage shows orcas chasing and killing great white shark

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Scientists say behaviour, filmed in South Africa, has never been seen in detail before – and never from the air

Scientists have published findings confirming that orcas hunt great white sharks, after the marine mammal was captured on camera killing one of the world’s largest sea predators.

A pod of killer whales is seen chasing sharks during an hour-long pursuit off Mossel Bay, a port town in the southern Western Cape province, in helicopter and drone footage that informed a scientific study released this week.

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Shark tale? Video of large fish in flooded Florida yard goes viral

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Man films fish ‘flopping around’ in neighbour’s garden but experts are split over identification

Photos and videos of sharks and other marine life swimming in suburban floodwaters make for popular hoaxes during heavy storms. But a mobile phone video filmed during Hurricane Ian’s assault on south-west Florida isn’t just another fishy story.

The video, which showed a large, dark fish with distinct dorsal fins thrashing around an inundated Fort Myers back yard, racked up more than 12m views on Twitter within a day, as users responded with disbelief and comparisons to the “Sharknado” film series.

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‘Like a scene out of Jaws’: British boy attacked by sharks in Bahamas

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Finley Downer, eight, bitten on both legs by nurse sharks at Compass Cay before being pulled to safety

An eight-year-old British boy has been attacked by sharks while on holiday in the Bahamas.

Finley Downer was surrounded by three nurse sharks while swimming in a lagoon last week, his family said, before he was pulled to safety after suffering bites on both legs.

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Morning mail: Boris Johnson refuses to quit, Kyrgios makes Wimbledon semi-finals, veggies to buy this month

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Thursday: Covid-19 led Australia to record 3,105 more deaths than expected in January and February. Plus: UK prime minister told to step down by his own ministers

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Good morning. A fourth Covid vaccine is to be made available to more Australians as it was revealed hospital admissions have reached their highest levels since early February. In the UK, Boris Johnson has been told by his own ministers to quit. And Nick Kyrgios is through to the semi-finals of Wimbledon.

Johnson’s woes have continued amid a string of resignations from his collapsing government and a series of senior Conservatives called for him to step down. But the PM is refusing to budge, even after a delegation of cabinet ministers met him at Downing Street to demand his resignation on a day of rapidly unfolding political drama. Follow all the latest developments as they happen here.

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Florida teen who faces losing leg after shark attack says: don’t fear the ocean

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Addison Bethea, 17, insisted ‘I’m still going to do what I love’ as she faces amputation following Fourth of July incident

A teenager who was in hospital to have her right leg amputated on Tuesday after a shark bit her off Florida’s coast said she had no intention of abandoning her love for the water.

“Don’t be scared of the ocean,” Addison Bethea told Miami’s CBS affiliate from her bed when asked to send a message to the public. “I’m still going to do what I love – don’t just let fear overtake your life.”

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Two women killed in shark attacks in Egypt’s Red Sea

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A Romanian and an Austrian die within 600 metres of each other south of city of Hurghada

Two women have been killed in shark attacks in Egypt’s Red Sea, south of the city of Hurghada, the Egyptian environment ministry has said.

Two sources told Reuters that the body of a Romanian tourist in her late forties was discovered hours after an attack that left a 68-year-old Austrian woman dead. Both attacks happened within 600 metres of each other, off the coast of Sahl Hasheesh, according to the sources.

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Great white shark killed California bodyboarder on Christmas Eve, coroner confirms

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Autopsy determined the man suffered a crushed skull as well as injuries to a large vein and died within minutes

A bodyboarder was attacked by a great white shark in central California on Christmas Eve and died within minutes, official reports have concluded.

Tomas Butterfield, 42, was bitten in the head, chest and shoulder in the Morro Bay attack and died from “complications of multiple penetrating blunt force traumatic injuries,” according to a coroner’s report, the Tribune of San Luis Obispo County reported on Tuesday.

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Endangered sharks found in cat and dog food, DNA study shows

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Description of ingredient as ‘ocean fish’ means owners are unwittingly giving their pets vulnerable species for dinner

Pet food containing endangered sharks is being fed to cats and dogs by unwitting owners, a study has revealed.

Scientists found that several brands contained endangered species but listed only vague ingredients such as “ocean fish”, meaning that consumers are often oblivious.

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European countries dominate half of Asian shark fin trade, report reveals

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Despite nearly a third of shark species nearing extinction, Spain supplied 51,000 tonnes of shark fins from 2003-20, says IFAW

European countries are selling so many shark fins to Asia that they dominate nearly half the trade, a study has found.

Shark populations continue to decline, driven by the global shark fin trade. Last year, scientists found a third of sharks and ray species have been overfished to near-extinction, jeopardising the health of entire ocean ecosystems and food security for many countries.

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British man named as victim of fatal Australia shark attack

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Simon Nellist, 35, was reportedly training for charity swim when he was killed off Sydney

A swimmer killed in what is believed to have been the first fatal shark attack off Sydney, Australia, in almost 60 years has been named locally as a British man.

Friends said Simon Nellist, 35, who was engaged to be married, “loved the water” and was an experienced diving instructor. The British expatriate, who it is understood was living in the Wolli Creek area of Sydney, was reportedly training for a charity swim.

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California officials close beaches after man dies in shark attack

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Thirty-one-year-old man, who appeared to be a bodyboarder, pronounced dead in San Luis Obispo county

California authorities have closed some beaches in San Luis Obispo County after a 31-year-old man was pronounced dead following an encounter with a shark on Friday.

The fatality marked the first death in a shark attack in 18 years in the area, which lies roughly midway between Los Angeles and Jan Jose.

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