Aloha Sharks

Shark attacks are one of the most rare occurrences in the world. The number of attacks per year are so low that it's very difficult for scientists to do a statistical analysis on why the number of fatal attacks tends to vary year by year. Statistically, risk of dying from a shark attack is amongst the lowest. 

Annual Risk Of Death During One's Lifetime

DISEASE AND ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF DEATHS	ANNUAL DEATHS	DEATH RISK DURING ONE'S LIFETIME
Heart disease	652,486	1 in 5
Cancer	553,888	1 in 7
Stroke	150,074	1 in 24
Hospital Infections	99,000	1 in 38
Flu	59,664	1 in 63
Car accidents	44,757	1 in 84
Suicide	31,484	1 in 119
Accidental poisoning	19,456	1 in 193
MRSA (resistant bacteria)	19,000	1 in 197
Falls	17,229	1 in 218
Drowning	3,306	1 in 1,134
Bike accident	762	1 in 4,919
Air/space accident	742	1 in 5,051
Excessive cold	620	1 in 6,045
Sun/heat exposure	273	1 in 13,729
Lightning	47	1 in 79,746
Train crash	24	1 in 156,169
Fireworks	11	1 in 340,733
Shark attack	1	1 in 3,748,067

Sources: All accidental death information from National Safety Council. Disease death information from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Shark fatality data provided by the International Shark Attack File.

Lifetime risk is calculated by dividing 2003 population (290,850,005) by the number of deaths, divided by 77.6, the life expectancy of a person born in 2003.

Scientists were surprised when they found that Hawaii experienced two fatal shark attacks in the year 2013. These were the first fatal attacks in almost a decade.  Were these fatal attacks coincidence?  Could the fatal attacks have been triggered by environmental influence or is behavior natural to the sharks? What is known is that  Maui sees over 60% of shark attacks in the Hawaiian islands. 
Maui has an insular shelf that slopes off into deep water.  On Maui, there is more of that kind of shelf habitat than on any other of the main Hawaiian islands.  The belief is that the Tiger Sharks come to this area to feed or reproduce. 

In 2013 over 1,400 tons of molasses spilled into the waters around Maui, killing hundreds of thousands of fish and marine life in the process.  A diver who surveyed the damage was quoted saying, "Everything that was underwater suffocated, everything climbed out of its hole and the whole bottom was covered with fish, crabs, lobsters, worms, sea fans--anything that was down there was dead."

The Hawaii Health Department had concerns that this would attract more predatorial fish around the area, such as sharks, eels, and barracuda. Their predictions were accurate. The increase in shark presence and activity increased.

Certain experts also believe that natural causes may play a factor in the rise in shark presence as well. They noticed that the rise in shark bites occurred around October, which also happens to be the month when pregnant female sharks travel from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the Main Hawaiian Islands to give birth to their young. This theory was brought up following a previous 7-year  tagging and tracking study of the migration of sharks in the area. 

It's hard to say exactly which theory is true, and we may never be able to determine which one is true. The biggest problem with shark attacks is that the numbers are so low it's hard to determine what's causing these fluctuations. It may be due to natural fluctuations or by human causes. But in the case that it is human causes, we just have to make sure we take the precautions that we need in order to prevent this from happening in the future. We have to start taking responsibility for our own faults and take the necessary actions to reverse them.