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Shark attacks: where they actually happen, and the real risk

Shark bites are rare enough that the global annual total is typically fewer than a hundred unprovoked incidents, and fatalities are in single figures. But the risk is not spread evenly: a handful of coastlines account for most encounters, and three species — white, tiger and bull — account for most serious ones.

  • 16High risk
  • 18Medium
  • 6Low
  • 40Zones tracked

The three that matter

White sharks patrol cool temperate waters: California's Red Triangle, South Africa's Cape coast, southern Australia and the northeastern United States. Tiger sharks dominate in Hawaii and tropical reefs. Bull sharks are the outlier — they tolerate fresh water and are found far up rivers, in harbours and in lakes, which is why our database tracks the Amazon, the Zambezi, the Mississippi and Lake Nicaragua alongside ocean coastlines.

Keeping it in proportion

You are far more likely to drown at the same beach than to be bitten. The precautions below cost nothing, and the honest advice for almost every destination on this list is that sharks should not change whether you swim — rip currents should.

How to avoid it

  • Avoid swimming at dawn, dusk and night, when most species feed.
  • Stay out of murky water, river mouths and channels — this is bull shark territory.
  • Do not swim near fishing activity, bait balls, seal colonies or diving seabirds.
  • Leave shiny jewellery on the beach; it flashes like fish scales.
  • Swim in a group and stay close to shore; solitary swimmers are the ones bitten.
  • Obey local beach closures after a sighting — they are based on tagging data you cannot see.

Where we track it

40 zones in the Dangers Here hazard database, by danger level.

High

  • Byron Bay
  • California — the Red Triangle
  • Florida & the Gulf of Mexico
  • Hawaiian Islands — tiger sharks
  • KwaZulu-Natal & the Mozambique coast
  • New Caledonia
  • Northeast Brazil — Recife coast
  • Northeastern USA & Atlantic Canada
  • Northern & eastern Australia — rivers, creeks & harbours
  • Northern Australia & the Coral Sea
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Recife & the Pernambuco coast
  • Réunion Island West Coast
  • South Africa — Cape coast great whites
  • Southern Australia — great white waters
  • The Bahamas & the Caribbean Sea

Medium

  • Amazon River basin
  • Canary Islands
  • Caribbean & Central America
  • Fiji
  • Guadalupe Island & Baja California
  • Indian Ocean islands — Réunion, Mauritius & the Mascarenes
  • Lake Nicaragua & the Río San Juan
  • Mississippi River & the lower Gulf states
  • New Zealand — great white waters
  • North Stradbroke Island
  • Okinawa
  • Red Sea
  • San Diego North County
  • Seychelles
  • South Asia — Ganges delta & the Bay of Bengal
  • Southeastern USA — Florida to the Carolinas
  • West Africa — Gambia, Senegal & the Gulf of Guinea
  • Zambezi River

Low

  • Indo-Pacific — Southeast Asian seas
  • Japan & the northwest Pacific
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Myrtle Beach
  • Phuket
  • Tropical West Africa

Questions

Where are sharks a risk?

We track 40 zones for this hazard. 16 are rated high risk, including Byron Bay, California — the Red Triangle, Florida & the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaiian Islands — tiger sharks, KwaZulu-Natal & the Mozambique coast. 18 are rated medium and 6 low.

How do you avoid sharks?

Avoid swimming at dawn, dusk and night, when most species feed. Stay out of murky water, river mouths and channels — this is bull shark territory. Do not swim near fishing activity, bait balls, seal colonies or diving seabirds.

The three that matter

White sharks patrol cool temperate waters: California's Red Triangle, South Africa's Cape coast, southern Australia and the northeastern United States. Tiger sharks dominate in Hawaii and tropical reefs. Bull sharks are the outlier — they tolerate fresh water and are found far up rivers, in harbours and in lakes, which is why our database tracks the Amazon, the Zambezi, the Mississippi and Lake Nicaragua alongside ocean coastlines.

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