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Shark attacks down? It's the economy
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Basking shark in Cornwall, UK Flickr candiche
I was watching television with my mother. A bit about sharks came on and she mentioned that she had heard that there was a report saying that shark attacks were down due to the economy. Naturally I had to go look up more information on a claim like that.
George Burgess, an ichthyologist (fish researcher) is the director of the International Shark Attack File, a program that is part of the Florida Museum of Natural History. He says that there were 58 shark attacks worldwide in 2008, the lowest since 2003.
As an article in CNN relates, "One can't help but think that the downturn in the economy played a part in it," Burgess said.
Fewer people, especially outside of the United States, have the resources to go to the beach, he said.
"To have a shark attack, you have to have humans and sharks in the water at the same time," Burgess said. "If you have a reduction in the number of people in the water, you're going to have a reduction in the opportunities for people and sharks to get together."
According to Burgess, 57% of the attacks are on surfers. Since surfing is so popular in the United States, it isn't surprising that 41 of the 59 attacks occured here.
Burgess thinks that as the economy recovers, we will be seeing more shark attacks occuring.
It's an interesting problem to consider. Could a downturn in the economy really change the number of shark attacks?
Do you think the economy is affecting shark attacks that much?
