Shark Attacks
A Comparison of Unprovoked Shark Attacks with the Number of Lightning Fatalities in Coastal United States: 1959-2008
| State |
Period |
Number of
Lightning
Fatalities |
Number of
Shark
Attacks |
Number of
Shark Attack
Fatalities |
| Alabama |
1959-2008 |
107 |
5 |
0 |
| California |
1959-2008 |
28 |
84 |
6 |
| Connecticut |
1959-2008 |
16 |
1 |
0 |
| Delaware |
1959-2008 |
15 |
3 |
0 |
| Florida |
1959-2008 |
453 |
585 |
8 |
| Georgia |
1959-2008 |
106 |
8 |
0 |
| Hawaii |
1959-2008 |
0 |
94 |
6 |
| Louisiana |
1959-2008 |
137 |
1 |
0 |
| Maine |
1959-2008 |
27 |
0 |
0 |
| Maryland |
1959-2008 |
124 |
0 |
0 |
| Massachusetts |
1959-2008 |
27 |
3 |
1 |
| Mississippi |
1959-2008 |
103 |
1 |
0 |
| New Hampshire |
1959-2008 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
| New Jersey |
1959-2008 |
66 |
8 |
0 |
| New York |
1959-2008 |
137 |
4 |
0 |
| North Carolina |
1959-2008 |
187 |
33 |
1 |
| Oregon |
1959-2008 |
8 |
21 |
1 |
| Rhode Island |
1959-2008 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
| South Carolina |
1959-2008 |
98 |
50 |
0 |
| Texas |
1959-2008 |
208 |
30 |
1 |
| Virginia |
1959-2008 |
65 |
4 |
1 |
| Washington |
1959-2008 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
|
| TOTALS |
|
1,930* |
936 |
25 |
| Number per Year (average) |
|
38.6* |
18.7 |
0.5 |
|
Copyright International Shark Attack File
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| *Lightning data for coastal states only. |
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Source of lightning data: Lightning Fatalities, Injuries and Damage Reports in the United States from 1959-1994, 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 1995 through 2008 data was tabulated
with data from Storm Data.
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Source of shark attack data: International Shark Attack File, 21 September 2008.
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© International Shark Attack File
Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida
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