This week there have been two fatalities in separate regions of the globe. The first occurred in Honolua Bay in Maui, Hawaii. A surfer was bitten in the early morning on the 8th of December and later died at the hospital. This investigation is on going and ISAF can not comment as to the species of shark involved at this time. From 2000-2019 Hawaii has had 109 confirmed unprovoked bites and Maui specifically has had 46 confirmed unprovoked bites in the past two decades. In that time Hawaii has had 3 unprovoked fatalities, all of which occurred on Maui. None of these fatalities have had the species of shark involved positively identified.

On Thursday the 10th a second fatality occurred 6000 miles away, on the Caribbean island of St. Martin. St. Martin has only had one previously reported unprovoked shark bite in the last two decades, occurring in 2005. This investigation is ongoing, and ISAF cannot comment as to the species of shark involved at this time. From 2000-2019 the Caribbean has had 16 confirmed unprovoked bites which includes 2 fatalities. One was confirmed to have involved a tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) the other lacked enough evidence to positively identify the species involved. From 2000-2019 the Bahamas have had 18 confirmed unprovoked bites, which include 2 fatalities from tiger sharks.