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Shark Attacks


A Comparison with the Number of Lightning Fatalities
in Coastal United States: 1959-2007
State Period Number of
Lightning
Fatalities
Number of
Shark
Attacks
Number of
Shark
Fatalities
Alabama 1959-2007 106 5 0
California 1959-2007 28 83 5
Connecticut 1959-2007 15 1 0
Delaware 1959-2007 15 3 0
Florida 1959-2007 449 555 8
Georgia 1959-2007 106 8 0
Hawaii 1959-2007 0 97 6
Louisiana 1959-2007 135 2 0
Maine 1959-2007 25 0 0
Maryland 1959-2007 124 0 0
Massachusetts 1959-2007 26 1 0
Mississippi 1959-2007 102 1 0
New Hampshire 1959-2007 8 0 0
New Jersey 1959-2007 66 8 0
New York 1959-2007 137 3 0
North Carolina 1959-2007 186 30 1
Oregon 1959-2007 8 21 1
Puerto Rico 1959-2007 33 2 0
Rhode Island 1959-2007 5 0 0
South Carolina 1959-2007 96 47 0
Texas 1959-2007 206 31 1
Virginia 1959-2007 64 4 1
Washington 1959-2007 5 1 0

TOTALS   1,945* 903 23
Number per Year (average)   39.7* 18.4 0.5
Copyright International Shark Attack File


*Lightning data for coastal states only.
 
Source of lightning data: Lightning Fatalities, Injuries and Damage Reports in the United States from 1959-2005, NOAA.

The lightning fatality data was collected by NOAA and originates from the monthly and annual summaries compiled by the National Weather Service and published in monthly issues of Storm Data. The 2006 and 2007 data was tabulated with data from Storm Data.

Please note, the 2007 lightning data covers from January 1, 2007-October 31, 2007 at this time. It will be updated as soon as the remaining 2007 data is available from NOAA.
 
Source of shark attack data: International Shark Attack File, 13 March 2008.


© International Shark Attack File
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida