The ISAF 2024 shark attack report
The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File investigated 88 alleged shark-human interactions worldwide in 2024. ISAF confirmed 47 unprovoked shark bites on humans and 24 provoked bites.
| Classification | Total |
| Unprovoked Bites | 47 |
| Provoked Bites | 24 |
| Boat Bites | 3 |
| Public Aquaria | 1 |
| Scavenge | 1 |
| Air/Sea Disaster | 0 |
| Doubtful | 2 |
| No assignment could be made | 7 |
| Not Confirmed | 3 |
| Total Cases | 88 |
“Unprovoked bites” are defined as incidents in which a bite on a live human occurs in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark.
“Provoked bites” occur when a human initiates interaction with a shark in some way. These include instances when divers are bitten after harassing or trying to touch sharks, bites on spearfisherman, bites on people attempting to feed sharks, bites occurring while unhooking or removing a shark from a fishing net and so forth.
Learn about other bite classification descriptions
Of the remaining 17 cases, three involved bites to motorized or non-motorized marine vessels (“boat bites”), and one involved shark-inflicted post-mortem bites (“scavenge”). Seven cases were classified as “no assignment could be made.” Three cases were classified as unconfirmed. These include cases where injuries could not be unambiguously attributed to a shark bite. These collectively include bites from other predatory fishes such as blue fish, cuts from sharp items in the water and cases where the victim’s body is not recovered, as in some drowning cases.
ISAF will continue to investigate these cases as data become available.
2024 at a glance
Global total of unprovoked shark bites significantly lower than average
| Country | Total | Fatal |
| USA | 28 | 1 |
| Australia | 9 | 0 |
| Egypt | 1 | 1 |
| Maldives | 1 | 1 |
| Western Sahara (Open Ocean) | 1 | 1 |
| Belize | 1 | 0 |
| French Polynesia | 1 | 0 |
| India | 1 | 0 |
| Mozambique | 1 | 0 |
| Thailand | 1 | 0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | 0 |
| Turks and Caicos | 1 | 0 |
| Worldwide | 47 | 4 |
The 2024 worldwide total of 47 confirmed unprovoked cases is in line with the most recent five-year (2019-2023) average of 64 incidents annually. There were 7 confirmed shark-related fatalities last year, four of which are assigned as unprovoked. This number is in line with the five-year annual global average of six unprovoked fatalities per year.
Annual fluctuations in shark-human interactions are always expected. While the number of fatalities in 2024 was lower than in 2023, this variation is still within the normal, recorded range of global fatalities. The 2023 uptick in fatalities due to white sharks was not observed in 2024, reflecting how stochastic the variation of fatalities can be from year-to-year.
U.S. leads world (again) in number of unprovoked bites
Consistent with long-term trends, the United States recorded the most unprovoked shark bites in 2024, with 28 confirmed cases. This is slightly lower than the 36 incidents recorded in 2023. The 28 cases represent 60% of the worldwide total.
Australia‘s total of 9 unprovoked incidents is lower than the five-year annual average of 15 incidents for the region. Five of these occurred in western Australia, one bite occurred in South Australia, one bite was recorded for Queensland and two bites were recorded for New South Wales. No bites were recorded for Tasmania over the year, and of note there were no fatalities recorded across the entire country.
Egypt reported one unprovoked bite that resulted in a fatality. The Maldives reported one fatal unprovoked bite for 2024. One fatal bite occurred off of the disputed territory of Western Sahara in the open ocean. Turks and Caicos Islands, French Polynesia, Mozambique, India, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Belize each reported single non-fatal incidents for 2024.
Florida had most unprovoked bites in U.S.
| U.S. State | Total | Fatal |
| Florida | 14 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 4 | 1 |
| Texas | 4 | 0 |
| California | 3 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 2 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 0 |
| Total Cases | 28 | 1 |
Florida has long topped global charts for the number of shark bites, and 2024 was no different. Florida’s 14 cases represent 50% of the U.S. total and 30% of unprovoked bites worldwide. This is lower than Florida’s most recent five-year annual average of 19 incidents. Volusia County had the most shark bites (8), representing 57% of the state’s total. This is in line with the five-year annual average of 9 incidents in the area. Of the six remaining bites, two were in Walton County, and one each occurred in the Martin, Brevard, St. Johns and Indian River counties.
Hawaii recorded four bites, one of which was fatal in 2024. This represents a slight decrease from the average, but shark bites in Hawaii vary considerably from year to year.
There were three unprovoked bites in California, four in Texas, one in North Carolina, and two in South Carolina.
Most bites are associated with swimming/wading
| Victim Activity at Time of Encounter | |
| Swimming/wading | 50% |
| Surfing/board sports | 34% |
| Snorkeling/free-diving | 8% |
| Other | 8% |
Swimmers and waders accounted for the majority of unprovoked bites, representing 50% of the incidents. Surfers accounted for 34%, and snorkelers/free divers accounted for 8%.
Risk of being bitten by a shark remains extremely low
The total number of unprovoked shark bites worldwide remains extremely low. Fatalities saw a decrease over the past year.
ISAF offers resources for reducing your risk of a shark bite and instructions for what to do if you encounter a shark.
Full Press Release: Unprovoked shark bites plummeted in 2024 by Jerald Pinson
Members of the press are also encouraged to check out our “Media Resources” page.
Gavin Naylor, Ph.D.
Program Director, International Shark Attack File
Florida Program for Shark Research
Florida Museum of Natural History – University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611 USA
(352) 273-1954
Email: gnaylor@flmnh.ufl.edu