2011 Worldwide Shark Attack Summary

Worldwide shark attack fatalities reached a 20-year high during 2011, while attacks in Florida and the United States were the lowest for the last decade, according to the University of Florida's annual International Shark Attack File report issued Feb. 7, 2012. The worldwide number of reported attacks was average compared with numbers over the last decade, and Florida saw its fifth straight year of decline in attacks, said George Burgess, ichthyologist and director of the file housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. While there were no fatalities in the US, a dozen people were killed internationally by shark attack-related injuries in 2011. Source: George Burgess. By Florida Museum writer Danielle Torrent. For more information go to news.ufl.edu.