What to Know About Shark Season: Risks, Attacks and More

California has very few shark attacks — just two recorded in 2023, fewer than New York and the Carolinas. However, because its white sharks are so big, attacks are more often serious. Of the 100 or so injuries since 2000, about 10 percent have been fatal. The largest white sharks tend to congregate near the so-called Red Triangle, around the Bay Area, from the middle of summer to late autumn.

Most shark encounters:

Shark-tracking studies indicate that white sharks often swim near popular beaches, but most of them avoid people. Recent years have seen more encounters with younger sharks, especially in the south near Los Angeles or San Diego, suggesting that they might be less adept at telling seals from humans.

Hammerhead sharks do live in California, but very rarely bother humans.

North and South Carolina have seen several hundred bites over the decades, mostly recorded since 2000, though only one or two fatal attacks in the last 50 years. Georgia has had far fewer bites, and none since 2021. Most of the run-ins between sharks and people here are driven by warmer weather, which draws sharks up from Florida and people out to the beach.

Most shark encounters:

This region doesn’t seem to be a gathering area for sharks in the way that California and Hawaii are — though, the area of North Carolina around Cape Fear does see some bites.

Blacktips are the most common culprits, but the more serious attacks appear to have been from tiger or bull sharks. White sharks do pass through, and have been implicated in older attacks going back to the 19th century. But in the last 50 years, there have been no verified white shark attacks.

The Gulf Coast of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama sees very few shark attacks. In the last 185 years there have been only 62 unprovoked incidents recorded. Ten were fatal, but the last death was in 1962, in Texas. Galveston, Texas, leads the region, partly because the winds tend to make the water murky and beach fishing can attract sharks.

Scientists have tracked a single white shark here, but blacktips and bull sharks are more common. Tiger sharks live here, but have never attacked.

Hawaii is probably the most dangerous state for shark attacks. While it has the second highest number of recorded bites, many have been serious. In 2023, for instance, it saw half as many bites as Florida, but one was deadly. This year Hawaii has already had a fatal attack.

An unusually high number of bites occur in October, which is likely related to the fact that pregnant tiger sharks congregate close to shore. Fortunately, that is a shoulder season, when the beaches are less crowded than in winter and summer.

Most shark encounters:

Most serious attacks involve tiger sharks, but blacktips and great whites do swim off Hawaiian shores. Most encounters involve board sports like surfing, but snorkelers are at some risk, especially in murkier water. The island of Maui sees the largest number of attacks.

Hammerhead sharks live in Hawaii, but very rarely bother humans.

The eastern coast from Virginia to New York doesn’t see many shark attacks, despite having many popular beach towns. In the last 185 years there have been only 52 recorded attacks; only one since 2000 has been fatal. In the more recent serious cases, bull sharks were most often implicated.

Long Island in New York is, roughly speaking, the northern border of the bull and tiger shark ranges. But there were no unprovoked shark attacks recorded here from 1950 to 2018. In the last few years, the area has seen numerous bites from juvenile sand tiger sharks, which often cause small cuts and may not even require a hospital visit.

Seals and white sharks were once very common along the northeast coast of the United States. Hunting reduced seal populations — and the predators that feed on them — to dangerously low levels until marine mammals were nationally protected in 1972. As the seal population has rebounded, white sharks have returned.

Today, places like Cape Cod in Massachusetts see a healthy white shark population each summer. Recorded attacks so far have been rare, though one man died there in 2018, and another in Maine in 2020.

Experts theorize that encounters are often tied to younger sharks, suggesting they might be less adept at telling seals from humans.

Oregon and Washington see very few shark attacks. In the last 185 years there have been only 30 recorded; one was fatal. White sharks occasionally wander up here, but they do not congregate and seem to steer clear of people.

Despite having the longest coastline in the country, Alaska has just one documented shark attack — on board a research vessel from a thrashing salmon shark.

Swimming alone in open water is another higher-risk activity, though attacks can also occur while people are wading or walking in shallow water. Many sharks, even large ones, can patrol surprisingly shallow waters looking for fish.

In Hawaii and Florida, snorkelers have had a number of run-ins with sharks. Most of the serious encounters have been in Hawaii and involved tiger sharks. A fair number of minor injuries are caused by snorkelers’ hassling of otherwise timid carpet sharks.

Kayaking and canoeing are among the safest activities in shark habitats. Of the few encounters on record, most led to a damaged boat — though several kayak deaths have occurred over the years.

Roughly half of the documented attacks involved people fishing from their boat. And the vast majority occurred in California, perhaps because of its size and the popularity of kayaking there.

Attacks on scuba divers are rare, but they do happen and are occasionally fatal. Many involve divers who are spearfishing or collecting other sea life. Sharks are often scavengers; it’s important to be aware of your surroundings if you’re carrying a dead ocean creature, especially after you surface.

There are steps you can take to avoid attracting a shark’s attention. Do not dive alone, and if you see a potentially dangerous shark, try to keep an eye on it as you exit the water.

Fishing — from shore, on a boat or with a spear gun — can increase your risk of an attack. Any time you are carrying bait or dead fish on your body, the chances go up that a shark will take an interest. And shark fishermen are naturally at risk of being bitten by their quarries.

It’s wise to fish with an experienced partner. If you are wading or swimming near popular fishing areas, you might be at higher risk.

The statistics in this article mostly refer to unprovoked bites. But there have been reports of shark attacks from people feeding, grabbing, petting, kicking, chasing and, in at least one case, kissing wild sharks. These types of attacks seem to be especially common among social media influencers.

Provoked attacks aren’t limited to coastal states either. Kentucky managed to rack up 12 shark attacks in 2006 after the aquarium in Newport opened a shark petting exhibit. And, at the Boat and Sports Show in 1996 in St. Louis, an underwater performer was bitten by a confused nurse shark named Bob. In all those cases, no one was seriously harmed.