A researcher at the University of Florida says that the bad economy is most likely responsible for a drop in shark attacks world wide, according to a story on the University of Florida website. It’s not that the sharks noticed any difference in the markets, it’s that fewer people traveled to the beach says George Burgess, ichthyologist and director of the International Shark Attack File.
According to the latest statistics released today, the total number of shark attacks declined from 71 in 2007 to 59 in 2008, the fewest since 2003, when there were 57, said Burgess, who works at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. . . . “I can’t help but think that contributing to that reduction may have been the reticence of some people to take holidays and go to the beach for economic reasons,” Burgess said. “We noticed similar declines during the recession that followed the events of 2001, despite the fact that human populations continued to rise.”
When we think about how many shark attacks there were at New Smyrna Beach alone it’s hard to believe it was a down year.
[Link: University of Florida News]
