People are naturally frightened of sharks, especially as a result of the media and movies. But in fact, even open water swimmers have more things to worry about. For example, humans are nearly 40 times as likely to be killed by dogs than killed by a shark.
However, the National Safety Council, the Disease Control & Prevention and the International Shark Attack File provided the following information about disease and accidental causes of deaths and the risk during one’s lifetime in the United States:
Heart disease: 652,486 deaths or 1 in 5 risk Cancer: 553,888 deaths or 1 in 7 risk Stroke: 150,074 deaths or 1 in 24 risk Hospital Infections: 99,000 deaths or 1 in 38 risk Flu: 59,664 deaths or 1 in 63 risk Car accidents: 44,757 deaths or 1 in 84 risk Suicide: 31,484 deaths or 1 in 119 risk Accidental poisoning: 19,456 deaths or 1 in 193 risk Falls: 17,229 deaths or 1 in 218 risk Drowning: 3,306 deaths or 1 in 1,134 risk Bike accident: 762 deaths or 1 in 4,919 risk Sun/heat exposure: 273 deaths or 1 in 13,729 risk Lightning: 47 deaths or 1 in 79,746 risk Fireworks: 11 deaths or 1 in 340,733 risk Shark attack: 1 death or 1 in 3,748,067 risk
In the state of Florida between 1998 – 2009, there were 10,172 boating accidents, 754 boating fatalities, 280 shark attacks and 4 shark attack fatalities.
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.