(KTLA) — Despite Oscar-winning films and an entire week of television programming dedicated to them, perhaps no animal is more misunderstood than the shark. But even though they’re the stuff of nightmares for fish, marine mammals and some seabirds, humans have very little to fear.
In short: you shouldn’t worry too much about shark attacks.
Since 1900, there have been about 1,600 shark attacks in the United States that are considered “unprovoked.” That’s about 13 per year, according to SharkAttackData.com.
And more than half of those attacks have all happened in one state: Florida.
According to data compiled by FloridaBet.com, 828 (50.6%) of those unprovoked attacks happened in the Sunshine State. And the majority of those attacks have all occurred in Volusia County, which is home to Daytona Beach.
Hawaii comes in second on the list with 230 unprovoked attacks since 1900, followed by California with 187. New York, where Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” took place in the fictional town of Amity Island, was toward the bottom of the list with 13 unprovoked attacks.
So why Florida?
A number of reasons are possible for the disparity in shark attacks in Florida compared to the rest of the U.S. For one, it has the nation’s second largest coastline behind Alaska. More coast means more beaches means more ocean means more chance of encountering a shark — makes sense, right?
Another reason is the type of sharks one could encounter in Florida.
While some states like California are home to white sharks, the southern coast of the U.S. is home to a smaller breed of shark known as the blacktip. Blacktip sharks have semi-frequent encounters with people and, according to National Geographic, have even been known to follow fishing boats to feed on discarded fish caught by mistake.
Finally, the state’s warm water is another contributing factor to the shark encounters.
Sharks tend to follow their food, and their prey are often closer to the shore thanks to ocean currents, FloridaBet says in its analysis. And fish aren’t the only ones that enjoy warm water: humans flock to Florida for its warm ocean waters too.
California Fish and Wildlife officials say the only way to avoid any risk of having a shark encounter is to avoid the ocean altogether. But while humans have greatly increased their beach and ocean activity, including surfing, swimming and scuba diving, shark incidents have not increased at the same rate.
So, if you can stomach that risk, the ocean is big enough for both you and sharks.
If you’re interested in helping sharks across the globe, National Geographic has some tips.