International Shark Attack File: South Africa experienced two non-fatal shark attacks in 2018

According to the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File (ISAF), South Africa experienced two non-fatal shark attacks in 2018*. Another four remaining unclassified attacks from South Africa are still under investigation. A total of 130 incidents of alleged shark-human interaction occured worldwide in 2018. Out of the 130 interactions between humans and sharks, 66 cases are confirmed unprovoked shark attacks on humans, while 34 are confirmed as provoked attacks on humans.

• Unprovoked Attacks - 66 incidents
• Provoked Attacks - 34 incidents
• Boat Attacks - 9 incidents
• Scavenge - 4 incidents
• Habituation - 1 incident
• Public Aquaria - 1 incident
• Doubtful - 10 incidents
• Not Confirmed - 5 incidents
• Total Cases - 130 incidents
  

The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) defines unprovoked attacks as "incidents where an attack on a live human occurs in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark" and provoked attacks as incidents where "a human initiates interaction with a shark in some way. These include instances when divers are bitten after harassing or trying to touch sharks, attacks on spearfishers, attacks on people attempting to feed sharks, bites occurring while unhooking or removing a shark from a fishing net, etc." [src.]

 
The International Shark Attack File (est. 1958) is housed at the Florida Museum of Natural History and is the only scientifically-generated database that documents and monitors shark attacks on a global basis.

*South Africa has an annual average of four total shark attacks and one fatality.

South Africa: Four shark attacks resulted in three fatalities in 2012

The Ichthyology department of the Florida Museum of Natural History has released the annual International Shark Attack File (ISAF) report. According to the report, 118 alleged incidents of shark-human interaction occurred worldwide in 2012. 80 of the 118 incidents represented confirmed cases of unprovoked* shark attack on humans. The 38 incidents not accorded unprovoked status in 2012 included 16 provoked attacks, eight shark-boat interactions (motorised and non-motorised vessels), five incidents regarded as not involving a shark ("doubtful"), one "air-sea disaster," three "scavenge" incidents involving post-mortem bites, and five cases in which available evidence was insufficient to determine if an unprovoked shark attack occurred.
Most shark attacks occurred 2012 in the United States. A total of 53 alleged incidents of shark-human interaction were reported. Australia ranked second with 14 attacks, four attacks took place in South Africa, three in Reunion and one in Indonesia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Tonga and on the Canary Islands.
Globally, seven fatalities resulted from unprovoked attacks in 2012. Three of the seven occured in South Africa, two in Australia, one in the United States (California) and one on Reunion.
The four attacks in 2012 in South Africa equal to the country's past ten-year average of four attacks, while the three fatalities were higher than its recent yearly average of one per year. Within the past ten years South Africa has had years with as many as eight attacks (2010) and four fatalities (2009) but also a year (2006) with not a single reported attack.

*"Unprovoked attacks" are defined as incidents where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark.

Five unprovoked shark attacks and two fatalities in South Africa in 2011

The Ichthyology department of the Florida Museum of Natural History has released the annual International Shark Attack File (ISAF) report. According to the report, the shark-related deaths in 2011 were higher than they've been in nearly 20 years.
The International Shark Attack File investigated 125 alleged incidents of shark-human interaction occurring worldwide in 2011. Out of the 125, 75 of these incidents represented confirmed cases of unprovoked shark attack on humans, a number closely matching the decade average.
The ISAF defines "unprovoked attacks" as follows: "Unprovoked attacks" are defined as incidents where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark. Incidents involving sharks and divers in public aquaria or research holding-pens, shark-inflicted scavenge damage to already dead humans (most often drowning victims), attacks on boats, and provoked incidents occurring in or out of the water are not considered unprovoked attacks.
Countries with multiple unprovoked attacks include 29 in the USA, 11 in Australia, 5 in South Africa, 4 in Reunion, 3 each in Mexico and Russia and 2 each in the Seychelles and Brazil.
As expected, surfers and others involved in board sports account for about 60% of these unprovoked shark attacks, swimmers account for 35% and divers for about 5%.
12 fatalities resulted from unprovoked attacks in 2011. Australia had 3 shark attack fatalities in 2011 and there were 2 each in Reunion, the Seychelles and South Africa, and 1 each in Costa Rica, Kenya and New Caledonia.
According to the director of the International Shark Attack File, George Burgess, the average global fatality rate for the last 10 years was just under 7%. Excluding the United States, which showed no shark-related fatalities in 2011, the international fatality rate averaged at nearly 25% last year.

South Africa: Eight unprovoked shark attacks & two resulting fatalities in 2010

According to researchers from the University of Florida/International Shark Attack File (ISAF) sharks launched 79 unprovoked attacks* on humans in 2010 worldwide (in total: 115 alleged incidents of shark-human interaction) and six people died from the attacks during the year (the 2001-2010 yearly average was 4.3). These unprovoked fatalities occurred in South Africa (2), USA (2), Egypt (1) and Australia (1). Surfers (50.8% of cases) and swimmers  and waders (37.7%) were most often involved in shark attacks in 2010. Less affected were snorkelers and divers (8.2%) and those using inflatable rafts and inner-tubes (3.3%).



32 of the 79 unprovoked attacks occurred in North American waters, 14 off Australia and eight in South African waters.
The 36 incidents not accorded unprovoked status in 2010 included 22 provoked attacks, 3 cases of sharks biting marine vessels, 4 incidents dismissed as non-shark attacks, 5 "scavenge" incidents involving post-mortem bites, and 2 cases in which insufficient information was available to determine if an unprovoked shark attack had occurred.
The 2010 yearly total of 79 unprovoked attacks was higher than the 2009 numbers (63 unprovoked attacks) and the highest since the 80 attacks in 2000. [src.: ISAF 2010 Worldwide Shark Attack Summary]
btw: Humans kill 30 million to 70 million sharks per year in fisheries!

* "Unprovoked attacks" in this case are defined as incidents where an attack on a live human by a shark occurs in its natural habitat without human provocation of the shark, while incidents involving sharks and divers in public aquaria or research holding-pens, shark-inflicted scavenge damage to already dead humans (most often drowning victims), attacks on boats, and provoked incidents occurring in or out of the water are not considered unprovoked attacks.

Surfer survived shark attack near East London

South African surfer Michal du Plessis, 19, was attacked by a believed to be a three-metre Great White Shark, which bit in his leg before he could get away from it. The attack happend during a surfing session at Yellow Sands point near the coastal city of East London. Michal survived the encounter. No bones were broken or flesh torn out.


View Yellow Sands near East London in a larger map