The Dorsal Fin

ABC News recently ran the above featured, inspired by recent shark attacks on children in North Carolina waters. While the feature covers several topics, I think the most worthwhile aspect of this report is the advice that parents should always accompany their children and be aware of risks of swimming in the ocean.

While the feature brings up the often used statistic that one is more likely to be struck by lightning than to be attacked by a shark, it fails to mention some of the other potential risks of swimming in the ocean. In particular, the ABC report does not even bring up the risk of drowning. In the past month alone, North Carolina beaches have unfortunately been the sites of multiple drownings.

Having visited North Carolina beaches on a fairly regular basis for many years of my life, I appreciate what NC beaches have to offer. However, there are inherent risks involved in swimming in the ocean, and when children are a part of the equation some of these risks become even greater. While it is important that beach goers are aware that sharks (as well as other predatory fish and potentially dangerous ocean life) are in the water, people should also be aware of the other potential dangers.

In the cases of the two recent North Carolina shark attacks, reports seem to indicate that there was proper parental supervision in both incidents. While even the most watchful parents can’t always prevent an unseen event such as a shark attack, proper supervision can certainly help to cut down some of the other risks involved with a day at the beach.

They really aren't the same year. I promise.

ABC News’, Shark Attacks Rise Worldwide But Drop In the U.S., wouldn’t exactly serve as a benchmark for statistical analysis on annual shark attack incidents. The article attributes a “rise” in global attacks to comparisons of reported attacks from 2008 (60) and 2009 (61). It also seems that the report can’t even distinguish between the 2009 and 2010 incidents, as evidence by the follow excerpt…

“In 2009, there were 61 total shark attacks, five of them fatal, including a 38 year old kiteboarder killed off the Florida coast last month.” – ABC News

Admittedly, I’ve been known to lose track of what day it is. However, I’m fairly certain that 2009 attacks would not include incidents from “last month,” which was February, 2010.

The article also goes on to mention a drop in U.S. attacks. This observation is also based solely on comparisons between overall incident reports between 2008 and 2009. George Burgess offers up a theory on reasons for this “drop,” although the article is polite enough to note that Burgess’ theory (much like the rest of the article) is “based on little scientific evidence.”