The shark is without doubt the most feared marine predator by humans. And often wrongly so: of the 400 or so species of shark that have been identified around the world to date, only about 20 pose a real danger to humans.
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However, it would be unwise to venture too close to a shark in the middle of its natural habitat: the animal is generally a formidable hunter equipped with the sharpest teeth, responsible for dozens of bites and other attacks reported each year in the four corners of the globe.
Which sharks are the most dangerous?
But which shark species pose the greatest danger to humans? In an attempt to find the answer to this question, the Florida Museum of Natural History has created a list of the species with the most recorded attacks on humans, from 1580 to the present day. The result is the five species that seem to attack humans the most often.
The tiger shark
The cause of 36 deaths over the period studied in this research, the tiger shark is often described as a curious and calm species, but it is one of the largest sharks. Approaching it, therefore, represents a certain danger.
The bull shark
With a maximum size of 3.40 metres and some 200 kilos on the scales, the bull shark is a heavyweight on the seabed. It is therefore not surprising that encounters with humans sometimes go badly wrong. With 95 non-lethal attacks and 26 deaths recorded, it is one of the most dangerous sharks for humans.
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The blue shark
The species, which is particularly present in temperate to tropical waters, between the surface of the water and 350 metres deep, has four recorded deaths to date.
The longfin mako shark
The longfin shark, also known as the mako shark, is a species that lives in the deep waters of tropical oceans and warm areas of temperate oceans. It is the cause of three recorded deaths to date.
The great white shark
Last but not least, the great white shark, whose name alone is enough to make the entire underwater population shudder, is also the species of shark that seems to attack (and kill) members of our species most regularly: it has no fewer than 57 recorded deaths and 297 non-lethal attacks.
This article was translated from Gentside FR.
