Travel

Swimmers beware! 7 crazy places to watch out for sharks

Sharks have been turning up in some unusual places as of late — and we don’t just mean attacking New York City on “Sharknado 2.” Over past few years, shark attacks have become increasingly common near beach towns where there had once been few, and on some coasts, sharks have re-emerged after periods of relative calm.

For example, places like the east coast of Florida (which had the most attacks worldwide in 2013), South Carolina, Hawaii, and California have returned to infamy after a particularly poor past few years. But there are unexpected new places to add to your do-not-swim list and at least one river you may want to avoid. (Yes, a river.)

Here are some stats to put it in perspective: According to the International Shark Attack File, worldwide shark attacks have doubled since 1960 and the U.S. is home to the most. That said, we’re also home to the smallest amount of shark-attack fatalities; and interestingly, twice the number of Americans have died in the jaws of an alligator than in the jaws of a shark since the 1950s.

Since 1560 (when records started being collected), sharks have attacked only 1,181 swimmers in the U.S. and Hawaii and killed fewer than 200 worldwide; only 391 people have been attacked by alligators, with just 18 deaths since 1948. What’s more deadly than alligators and sharks? Cars, trans fats, and people. Oh, and sand: Between 1990 and 2006, sharks slaughtered 12 people in the U.S., but sand killed 16 after they were crushed to death burrowing into the beach.

So go out there! And enjoy the water. Or if you must, stay inside and at least enjoy Shark Week on the Discovery Channel. The 27th season starts Aug. 10.

Santa Barbara, California: Surf Beach

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They’re not changing the name of this sunny strip of Santa Barbara sand just yet, but with two fatal shark attacks in the last five years — both times on surfers — they might want to consider it.

Some of the state’s other beaches in San Diego, Humboldt, Marin, and Monterey counties have had similar shark scares in the years since 1926 (when they began measuring such occurrences). But in reality, this all amounts to fewer than 70 attacks in total, of which only six have been deadly, which is arguably safer than, say, driving on Highway 101.

Maui, Hawaii: Makena State Park

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Aggressive tiger sharks have plagued the tides of Maui for eons, but a nine-year lull in fatal encounters ended in 2013 with double the number of unprovoked attacks compared with an average year, plus two deaths (of a fisherman and a kayaker) near Makena State Park.

So alarming are the numbers that the state has invested a reported $186,000 to study what makes Maui’s waters so mouthwatering to these menacing creatures. Be cautious if you go, but don’t blow it out of proportion: More people have died in a single car accident on Maui than in nine years of shark attacks.

Indian Ocean: Reunion Island

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You know it’s bad when a tropical island on most surfers’ top-10 lists issues a decree banning swimming and surfing. It happened in 2013 on Reunion Island (officially part of France, it’s east of Madagascar off the southern coast of Africa) after a staggering seven shark-attack fatalities in just two years.

The surf is back on for 2014 (so far), but it’s certainly at your own risk. On the plus side, the island’s lush interior looks like Kauai or Maui, so if you’re wary at the thought of going in the water, there’s still lots of adventure to be had on land.

The Eastern Seaboard, United States

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How can we put this great whitely — er, lightly? Over the past few years, there’s been a swelling in the number of great white sharks off Cape Cod. Last year, the National Association of Shark Teaching and Education (NASTE) issued a warning that great whites would soon be common to the Chesapeake Bay.

Meanwhile, this summer, a fisherman caught an 80-pound baby great white shark a mile off Rockaway Beach in Queens, New York; and 30 miles off the South Jersey Shore, a man filmed a rather large great white shark jumping out of the water. Scientists say there are more great whites off the East Coast since before the Pilgrims showed up.

And then there’s this “Jaws”-like jaw-dropper: Scientists have been tracking a one-ton great white shark that swam from Cape Cod to Texas this year. Add Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, long a regular shark stomping ground, and New Smyrna Beach on Florida’s east coast, considered the shark-attack capital of the world, and it’s looking pretty bleak on America’s Atlantic Coast. On the bright side, there haven’t been any shark-related deaths on the East Coast since February 2010.

Egypt: Sharm El Sheikh

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In 2010, there were five shark attacks, one of them fatal, in this southern Sinai Peninsula beach resort after nearly a millennium of nothing. The dumping of sheep carcasses in the Red Sea is believed to have caused the frenzy.

The waters were briefly closed while the sharks were hunted and killed, and although they have not officially returned, rumors of more attacks persist.

Recife, Brazil: Boa Viagem Beach

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The first clues that you shouldn’t swim at Boa Viagem Beach — aside from the bilingual warning signs? How about the fact that their lifeguards train in a swimming pool rather than in the surf they’re charged with monitoring. Or that surfing has been banned there since 1999. The reason? Too many shark attacks.

But finned marauders are a fairly new phenomenon there: Bull and tiger sharks have been terrorizing this once-popular urban beach only since 1992, shortly after the city dredged an estuary to build a new port. It is now considered one of the worst places in the world to swim. There have been at least 56 attacks in the last 24 years, and over 34 percent of them have been deadly (compare that with the average 16 percent rate on other dangerous beaches).

The good news? It’s about 1,500 miles from Rio’s famed Ipanema and Copacabana beaches, where shark attacks are rare.

Vietnam: Quy Nhon Bay

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No one’s ever died by shark attack in Vietnam (that scientists know of). Yet in 2010 the picture-perfect beaches that line the South China Sea there landed on shark observers’ radar with a dramatic rise in shark bites, specifically chomps from smaller tropical sharks at the off-the-beaten-path beach of Quy Nhon Bay (it’s between Nha Trang and Hoi An), where there were 79 attacks in one year alone.

Experts think a nearby lobster farm may have attracted the unwanted visitors, but they also blame unusually warm ocean temperatures in 2009-2010 from El Niño, which — to give you fair warning — is predicted to happen again this winter.