Shark assaults rose in 2025, and the one U.S. loss of life was in California

Shark assaults returned to near-average ranges in 2025 after a dip the earlier yr, in accordance with the newest report from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, revealed Wednesday.

Researchers recorded 65 unprovoked shark bites worldwide final yr, barely beneath the 10-year common of 72, however a rise from 2024. Nine of these bites have been deadly, larger than the 10-year common of six fatalities.

The United States as soon as once more had the best variety of reported incidents, accounting for 38% of worldwide unprovoked bites when assessed on a country-by-country foundation. That mentioned, it’s truly a decline from current years, together with 2024, when greater than half of all reported bites worldwide occurred off the U.S. coast.

In 2025, Florida led all states with 11 recorded assaults. California, Hawaii, Texas and North Carolina accounted for the remaining U.S. incidents.

But California stood out in one other approach: It had the nation’s solely unprovoked deadly shark assault in 2025.

A 55-year-old triathlete was attacked by a white shark after getting into the water off the coast of Monterey Bay with members of the open-ocean swimming membership she co-founded. It was the only U.S. fatality amongst 25 reported shark bites nationwide.

It’s not shocking that the only U.S. shark-related loss of life occurred in California, mentioned Steve Midway, an affiliate professor of fisheries at Louisiana State University. “In California, you tend to have year-to-year fewer attacks than other places in the U.S. and in the world,” Midway mentioned. “But you tend to have more serious attacks, a higher proportion of fatal attacks.”

The distinction lies in species and geography, Midway mentioned. Along the East Coast, significantly in Florida, many bites contain smaller coastal sharks in shallow water, which usually tend to end in nonfatal accidents. California’s deeper and colder waters are dwelling to bigger species, corresponding to the good white shark.

“Great whites just happen to be larger,” Midway mentioned. “You’re less likely to be attacked, but if you are, the outcomes tend to be worse.”

Whether measured over 10, 20 or 30 years, common annual shark chunk totals globally are literally very secure.

“The global patterns change only slightly from one year to the other,” mentioned Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research.

Those annual fluctuations are influenced by a mix of shark biology, ocean circumstances and the variety of individuals within the water at any given time in any given place, researchers say.

At the identical time, international shark populations stay far beneath historic ranges. Naylor categorizes about 30% of shark species as endangered, largely as a result of overfishing. In some nations, together with the United States and Australia, stronger protections have allowed sure shark populations to recuperate.

Nevertheless, the chance of being bitten by a shark stays extraordinarily low. The report notes that drowning is a far more common cause of death worldwide — and, if it helps you sleep (or swim), the information present that you’re much more likely to be killed by lightning than you’re by a shark.