July 28, 2026, by David McGuire
On July 14, shark lovers celebrated International Shark Day to recognize the importance of sharks to marine ecosystems and the threats shark populations face in the global ocean.
This week Discovery Channels much-vaunted Shark Week kicked off, with a week of shark programming on “great” whites, shark attacks and monster sharks. Alongside the programming, large amounts of media attention is focused on so-called shark attacks, with fears of an increase this “sharky summer”. How much of the sensation is grounded in reality?
Sharks are ancient predators that have maintained the ocean in perfect balance for over 400 million years. They are the ultimate guardians of marine ecosystems. Yet, every year, sensationalized headlines distort the reality of human-shark interactions e.g. “shark attacks”. In fact many shark- human attacks are actually considered provoked (spearfishing or attracting sharks while in or on the water). We classify shark – human events as interactions, not attacks, since many are territory related or natural responses by sharks.
Examining the global data from 2025, the mid-year trends for 2026, the message is clear: sharks have far more to fear from us than we do from them.
The Numbers: Global Shark Attack Trends (2025–2026)
The International Shark Attack File (ISAF) maintained by the Florida Natural History Museum and tracking data compiled by Shark Stewards offer important perspective for ocean recreationists.
- The 2025 Summary: According to the ISAF there were 65 confirmed unprovoked shark bites globally. While this was an increase from the unusually low total of 47 bites recorded in 2024, it remained well aligned with long-term data and just under the recent 10-year average of roughly 72 annual incidents. Tragically, 9 of these global unprovoked encounters were fatal, with a majority occurring in remote regions of Australia.
- The 2026 Mid-Year Snapshot: Mid-year tracking for 2026 reinforces that shark encounters remain exceptionally rare. According to the database Shark Tracking as of early July 2026, global tracking reports 30 shark attack “bites” worldwide, 7 of which were fatal. In the United States, only 8 total bites have been recorded so far in 2026—with one fatality in the Virgin Islands. Many so-called shark attacks are considered provoked-meaning human behavior like spearfishing, or pulling a shark from the water led to the bite. Three of the USA events in 2026 were classified as provoked by Shark Tracking.
In 2026 fatalities are higher than the ten year average with Australia leading. However, overall global trends point to about half of the normally recorded annual shark bite incidents, 3/4 of the way through the year. The United States averages about 19 to 25 unprovoked shark attacks each year, leading to less than one fatality per year on average (roughly one fatal attack every two years).
As the most populated state with a thousand mile shoreline, and highly productive waters, California ranks higher in human -shark incidents. 2025 was a more active year than average with ten incidents and one fatality. California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) scientists published a study in December 2022 reviewing all available information on California shark incidents. The study showed there were 201 confirmed shark incidents in California waters between January 1950 and December 2021. Among those incidents, 107 caused non-fatal injuries and 15 were fatal. Data shows California experiences around 3 human-shark incidents per year, with an average fatality of one every 10 years. Thus far in 2026, California has experienced three incidents from white sharks with two injuries and zero fatalities.
These annual fluctuations are driven by shifting weather and prey patterns, water temperatures, and human marine activity, not a sudden surge in aggressive sharks.
Real Risk vs. Perception: The Stanford Surfer Study
For surfers in California, the ocean is our second home, and the presence of great white sharks is a known reality. However, science consistently proves that the actual risk of an encounter is extraordinarily low.
According to a landmark study conducted by Stanford University, the risk of a white shark attack on surfers in California has plummeted over the decades because growing human beach populations vastly outstrip the number of shark encounters. The study revealed that even for the highest-risk group—surfers—the odds of being bitten are roughly 1 in 17 million. For general swimmers, the risk drops even further to a staggering 1 in 738 million beach visits. You are vastly more likely to drown than to be harmed by a shark.
Sharky Summer? Protecting Public Safety: Permanent Fishing Regulations in California
Higher than average sea surface temperatures, an impending “Super El Niño” are already attracting more juvenile and young white sharks closer to shore in Southern California, generating concerns about higher risk of shark interactions. In California, white sharks are listed as threatened and protected from fishing. However in Southern California, fishermen targeting sharks from public piers and beaches have been attracting, catching and releasing white sharks. This activity, often entailing the use of heavy fishing gear including mechanical gaffs. Bait and chum attract sharks to piers and habituates sharks, maitaining their activity closer to piers where high human water recreation also occurs. In June 2026, the California Fish and Game Commission voted unanimously to pass emergency regulations restricting heavy recreational big-game fishing gear within 1,000 yards of the shore and public piers.
Before these regulations, shore-based anglers targeting large sharks would often use heavy wire leaders, chum, and live bait right alongside public beaches. This dangerous practice actively draws large predators, including protected juvenile white sharks, directly into zones where humans swim and surf. Not only does this compromise public safety, but it also subjects protected white sharks to severe trauma from hooks, gaffs, and exhaustion.
Shark Stewards’ Stance: While these emergency rules are a temporary measure, the fishing lobby is actively resisting them. We are actively campaigning to make these regulations permanent. Furthermore, we are urging the Commission to close existing loopholes by explicitly banning shore and pier based mechanical gaffs, chumming and the use of drones to drop bait into deeper waters.
The Real Crisis: Sharks Under Threat
While the media focuses on a few dozen human-shark interactions a year, humans kill an estimated 80 to 100 million sharks annually. Today, more than one-third (37%) of all shark and ray species are threatened with extinction, primarily due to overfishing, the cruel practice of shark finning, and accidental bycatch.
Why Sharks Deserve Our Protection
Sharks are not mindless villains; they are apex predators essential to the survival of our planet.
- Ecosystem Balance: Sharks keep marine ecosystems healthy by preying on the weak and sick, preventing overpopulation of mid-level predators, and protecting critical habitats like seagrass beds and coral reefs.
- The Carbon Cycle: By keeping marine life balanced, sharks indirectly help oceans sequester carbon, making them vital allies in the fight against climate change.
- Oxygen Generation: A collapsing marine ecosystem threatens phytoplankton—the tiny organisms responsible for generating over half of the Earth’s oxygen.
How You Can Help
We must shift the narrative from fearing sharks and sensational shark attack vernacular to more moderate language and responsible behavior. Together we can alter perceptions and human behavior from shark exploitation to marine conservation. This International Shark Day, stand with Shark Stewards by signing our petition to make California’s pier and beach shark fishing regulations permanent, selecting your seafood consumption to mitigate shark bycatch, and supporting vital marine protected areas like the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument.
The oceans need their guardians, but right now, those guardians need us.