Scared of sharks? These are the beaches where you shouldn’t get in the water
EVERY year, Brits fly to all corners of the earth looking for sun-soaked relaxation on beach holidays.
But as two British men found out today, some of our favourite destinations are also among the most dangerous shark attack hotspots in the world.
Today’s nightmare incident in Hook Passage, Australia, took place near the site of another fatal shark attack which happened less than a year ago.
A 33-year-old man was paddle boarding in the Whitsundays when he was dragged beneath the surface.
One of the rescue crewman sent to help the man described his injuries as “absolutely horrific”, having suffered “very serious bites, significant blood loss as well as cardiac arrest”. He died of his injuries.
In 2018 alone, another 19 attacks took place in Australia — a holiday favourite with Brits seeking a bit of winter sun.
More than 733,000 tourists from the United Kingdom travelled to Australia last year.
But Australia is just one of many British holiday hotspots that has a terrifying number of shark attacks.
Here, we reveal where tourists are most at risk.
Florida: Most dangerous shark spot on the planet
Total attacks: 828
The United States has the unfortunate accolade of being the country with the most shark attacks – over 1,441 recorded attacks.
Last year, there were 32 unprovoked attacks in the US — about as many as the rest of the world combined.
An unprovoked attack is an incident in the shark’s natural habitat where the victim didn’t provoke the shark in some way, like trying to touch it or attempting to feed it.
Of those 32 American attacks, half were in just one state: Florida, where an estimated 1.7million Brits sun themselves every year.
In August, horrific footage showed a heavily bleeding diver being hauled into a boat after a suspected shark attack off the coast of Miami.
That incident came on the Tuesday following a particularly bloody weekend which saw three separate attacks in Florida.
Surfer Emily Comfort, 20, needed stitches when she was bitten on her hand and wrist.
Just half an hour later Riley Petrovich, 21, needed urgent treatment when a hungry predator bit his foot.
California: ‘His entire back was open’
Total attacks: 124
On the opposite coastline is California, the most visited state America because of its gorgeous weather, national parks and vibrant cities.
But it’s also the site of 124 unprovoked shark attacks — with the most recent fatal attack in 2012.
Francisco Javier Solorio Jr was 39 years old when he was sitting on his surfboard off the coast of Surf Beach.
One of his friends who’d gone out surfing with him saw a monster shark rise up out of the water and bite Francisco in the chest.
He was pronounced dead on the beach and, using the teeth marks left in his board, investigators worked out that a 16-foot great white was to blame.
Just last year, 13-year-old Keane Webre-Hayes was diving for lobsters off Encinitas when he was left in a critical condition following a shark attack.
One of his rescuers, Chad Hammel, said at the time: “I paddled to him and there was a big wake of blood behind him.
“His entire back was open. The shark hit him in the clavicle.
“The shark’s top teeth got him in his cheek.”
Hawaii: Ripped apart by tiger sharks
Total attacks: 162
The holiday island of Hawaii is the second most shark-infested state behind Florida, with 162 unprovoked attacks recorded.
Despite the danger, holidaymakers flock to the picturesque volcanic island every year precisely because of its amazing surfing beaches like Waikiki.
Divers in Hawaii got a scare earlier this year when Deep Blue – the world’s biggest great white weighing 2.5 tons -was spotted feeding on the carcass of a sperm whale.
In May, Thomas Smiley, 65, from California was on holiday a year into his retirement when he was the victim of a shark attack off the coast of Maui.
He was brought to shore where witnesses saw a large chunk of his leg missing before he died while being given CPR.
His death came four years after another holidaymaker, sixty-five-year-old Margaret Cruse, was mauled to death by sharks in Maui.
She was snorkelling with friends when they became separated.
She was found dead, face down in the water, having had her arm ripped off and with severe injuries to her chest.
Of the 40 or so species of sharks found in Hawaiian waters, experts believed man-eating tiger sharks were to blame.
Australia: Shark attack frenzy
Total attacks: 642
The same waters where today’s attacks took place in Australia have seen a huge amount of tragedy.
Last year, Justine Barwick from Tasmania, 46, needed 18 hours of surgery after she was bitten while snorkelling.
And then the next day, a 12-year-old girl from Melbourne, Hannah Papps, nearly died when a predator tore into her right leg as she swam in shallow water.
Her leg was lost in the attack.
But shark attacks aren’t just confined to the east coast of the country.
In 2017, 17-year-old Laeticia Brouwer was surfing with her dad, Leon, in Esperance on the western coast.
Leon described hearing a piercing scream as Laeticia’s leg was ripped off by a great white shark.
She died of her injuries.
The International Shark Attack Files show an incredible 642 shark attacks in Australia since records began — but the actual number of attacks is likely to be much higher.
Around half of the world’s 400 species of shark can be found in Australia, including all of the top three most responsible for attacks on humans: great whites, tigers, and bulls.
TOP 10 SHARK ATTACK COUNTRIES
These countries have the most unprovoked shark attacks on record:
- USA – 1,441
- Australia – 642
- South Africa – 255
- Brazil – 107
- New Zealand – 52
- Papua New Guinea – 48
- Mascarene Islands (Mauritius) – 46
- Mexico – 40
- Bahamas – 29
- Iran – 23
Source: International Shark Attack File
South Africa: Desperate swim to safety with one arm
Total attacks: 255
Around 22,000 Brits jetted off to South Africa between May 2018 – May 2019.
But they might have been more reluctant if they’d known about the nation’s 255 recorded unprovoked shark attacks.
In 2014, a group of abalone poachers were swimming to Dyer Island off the coast of South Africa.
Sivuyile Xelela, 34, was dragged under as the group neared the reef.
“Suddenly the shark dragged him under and came up shaking him in its jaws,” one of the poachers told the
“There was blood in the water. We heard him screaming as we swam away.”
His body was later fished out the water by a rescue boat.
In another horrific case, Austrian politician Friedrich Burgstaller was attacked while swimming with his wife off Second Beach in 2014.
Burgstaller initially tried to swim away, but “he then turned around to face the shark and tried to hit it on the head, but its jaws were open and his arm fell right between its teeth and the arm was gone”.
He then desperately tried to swim to shore with his remaining arm, but the current swept him out to sea.
When his body was later recovered, a large part of his body beneath the waist was gone.
Experts believed multiple bull sharks were to blame.