News Animals

Here’s how many shark bites there were in 2023

Sharks bit only 91 people around the world last year, showing these interactions are rare

Bull shark angled head on approach in blue water near surface with fish

Bull sharks are common near beaches in Florida, a U.S. state that accounts for nearly one-quarter of all global shark bites on people.

Steve Hinczynski/iStock / Getty Images Plus

By Brianna Randall

Despite the sensationalized portrayal of sharks in movies like Jaws, the ocean’s apex predators have far more to fear from people than vice versa.

Even though millions of people around the world swim in the ocean each year, just 91 people were bitten by sharks in 2023 and only 10 of those bites were fatal, according to a new report from the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville.