Unprovoked vs. Provoked - GSAF defines a provoked incident as one in which the shark was speared, hooked, captured or in which a human drew "first blood". Although such incidents are of little interest to shark behaviorists, when the species of shark involved is known and pre-op photos of the wounds are available, the bite patterns are of value in determining species of shark involved in other cases when the species could not identified by the patient or witnesses. We know that a live human is rarely perceived as prey by a shark. Many incidents are motivated by curiosity, others may result when a shark perceives a human as a threat or competitor for a food source, and could be classed as "provoked" when examined from the shark's perspective.Incidents involving Boats – Incidents in which a boat was bitten or rammed by a shark are in green. However, in cases in which the shark was hooked, netted or gaffed, the entry is orange because they are classed as provoked incidents.Casualties of War & Air/Sea Disasters - Sharks maintain the health of the marine ecosystem by removing the dead or injured animals. Many incidents result because, like other animals that don't rely on instinct alone, sharks explore their environment. Lacking hands, they may investigate an unfamiliar object with their mouths. Unlike humans, there is no malice in sharks; they simply do what nature designed them to do. Air/Sea Disasters are accidents that place people into the day-to-day business of sharks. The wartime losses due to sharks result from mans' cruelty to man. Air/Sea Disasters are in yellow.Questionable incidents - Incidents in which there are insufficient data to determine if the injury was caused by a shark or the person drowned and the body was later scavenged by sharks. In a few cases, despite media reports to the contrary, evidence indicated there was no shark involvement whatsoever. Such incidents are in blue.All of the data on this site comes from the Global Shark Attack File (GSAF), a spreadsheet of human/shark interactions, compiled by the Shark Research Institute. It is hoped that this site makes it apparent that shark attacks are extremely rare occurrences, while providing an easily accessible resource for those wishing to know more about the subject.
Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
License information was derived automatically
The shark control program (SCP) relies on nets or drumlines, or a combination of both, to minimise the threat of shark attack on humans in particular locations. Following is information on numbers and locations of sharks that have been caught by the SCP.
This dataset contains details of non-target numbers in the Shark Control program by species, date of capture, and location from 2001.
It is important to reduce the inadvertent impacts of the SCP on other marine animals (bycatch) without compromising human safety. Bycatch levels are carefully monitored and research is focused on minimising impacts on non-target species.
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
The shark control program (SCP) relies on nets or drumlines, or a combination of both, to minimise the threat of shark attack on humans in particular locations. Following is information on numbers …Show full descriptionThe shark control program (SCP) relies on nets or drumlines, or a combination of both, to minimise the threat of shark attack on humans in particular locations. Following is information on numbers and locations of sharks that have been caught by the SCP. It is important to reduce the inadvertent impacts of the SCP on other marine animals (bycatch) without compromising human safety. Bycatch levels are carefully monitored and research is focused on minimising impacts on non-target species.
Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
License information was derived automatically
The shark control program (SCP) relies on nets or drumlines, or a combination of both, to minimise the threat of shark attack on humans in particular locations. Following is information on numbers and locations of sharks that have been caught by the SCP.
It is important to reduce the inadvertent impacts of the SCP on other marine animals (bycatch) without compromising human safety. Bycatch levels are carefully monitored and research is focused on minimising impacts on non-target species.
This dataset contains details of non-target numbers in the Shark Control program by species, date of capture, and location from 2001
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
This dataset encompasses detailed records of human-shark interactions incidents in New Caledonia and Reunion Island from 1980 to 2022. It is designed to support a multi-criteria analysis of these incidents, providing insights into the conditions and characteristics surrounding each event.
Attributes
1. SITE Geographic location of the human-shark interactions (New Caledonia or Reunion Island).
2. N: Sequential number of the incident.
3. DATE: Date of the human-shark interactions (YYYY-MM-DD format).
4. YEAR: Year of the incident.
5. MONTH: Month of the incident.
6. DAY: Day of the week when the incident occurred.
7. HOUR: Time of the incident (24-hour format).
8. HOURTYPO: Time range category (e.g., 13-15 for 1 PM to 3 PM).
9. SEASON: Season during which the human-shark interactions occurred (Summer, Winter, etc.).
10. WEEKEND: Indicates whether the incident occurred on a weekend (Weekend or Week).
11. MORNING: Time of day (Morning, Afternoon, etc.).
12. ZONE: Specific zone or region within the site (e.g., Noumea, East, Loyalty).
13. WIND: Windward or leeward side.
14. RAINJ: Rainfall on the day of the incident (in millimeters).
15. RAINJ3: Cumulative rainfall over the past three days (in millimeters).
16. SWELL: Swell height (in meters).
17. CLOUD: Cloud cover percentage.
18. TURB: Water turbidity (e.g., Slightly turbid).
19. SCOREMOON: Lunar phase during the incident (e.g., Full or new moon).
20. GENDER: Gender of the victim (Male or Female).
21. AGE: Age of the victim.
22. ACTIVITY: Activity the victim was engaged in during the attack (e.g., Spearfisher, Swimmer).
23. GRAV: Severity of the injury (e.g., Significant bite, Minor bite).
24. INJURY: Outcome of the attack (e.g., Non-fatal).
25. SHARKTYPE: Type of shark involved (if identified).
26. SHARKCAT: Category of the shark (e.g., Great White, Tiger Shark).
27. SHARKHEIGHT: Estimated length of the shark (in meters).
Usage Notes
This dataset is intended for researchers and analysts studying shark attack patterns, environmental influences on shark behavior, and risk factors associated with human-shark interactions. It provides comprehensive details necessary for performing statistical analyses and comparative studies between New Caledonia and Reunion Island.
Data Sources
The data has been compiled from various local and international databases, publications, and eyewitness accounts to ensure accuracy and completeness.
1. Bibliography
- Taglioni, F., Guiltat, S. & Delsaut, M. Datasets of Human–shark interactions in New Caledonia (1980-2022). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12549370 (Data from 1980 to 2022)
- P. Tirard, Requins du caillou, Edition Philippe Tirard, Nouméa, 2011 (Data from 1980 to 2010)
- F. Dreyer, Les attaques de requin en Nouvelle- Calédonie, MD Doctorate, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, 2001, p. 208 (Data from 1980 to 2000)
- Global Shark Attack file (GSAF) (Data from 1980 to 2022)
- Various articles in the French national and Caledonian press (Data from 1980 to 2022)
2. Environmental factors
- Rainfall: Météo France (French National Meteorological Service). Data extracted from the nearest rainfall station (32 stations) on the day of the human–shark interaction and cumulated rainfall over the previous three days
- Cloud cover expressed as percentages:* NOAA from 2008 to 2022;
* Weather forecasts from 1999 to 2022 (data from Météo France New Caledonia) ; from 1980 to 1998: Dreyer andTirard
- Swell height:
* WaveWatch 3 (NOAA) data, from 2008 to 2022
* Weather forecasts from 1999 to 2022 (data from Météo France New Caledonia)
* From 1980 to 1998: Dreyer and Tirard
- Turbidity: empirical estimated score from the swell, rainfall, and knowledge of the benthic substrate, Dreyer and Tirard, information from the local press; score: authors
- Moon phase: ephemeris; score: authors
3. Contextual factors
- Date, human–shark interaction location, time, shark species and height according to:
* Dreyer, 2001
* Tirard, 2011
* Global Shark Attack File (GSAF)
* Various articles in the New Caledonia local press and the French national (analyses from 1980 to 2022)
4. Victim characteristics
- Age of victim, sex (male/female), victim’s activity at time of human–shark interaction, severity of injuries (score: authors), according to:
* Dreyer, 2001
* Tirard, 2011
* Global Shark Attack File (GSAF)
* Various articles in the New Caledonia local press and the French national (analyses from 1980 to 2022)
Spreadsheet of non-target species (bycatch) numbers in the Shark Control Program by species, date of capture, location, size and sex from 2001 onwards
The shark control program (SCP) relies on nets or drumlines, or a combination of both, to minimise the threat of shark attack on humans in particular locations. Following is information on numbers and locations of sharks that have been caught by the SCP.
It is important to reduce the inadvertent impacts of the SCP on other marine animals (bycatch) without compromising human safety. Bycatch levels are carefully monitored and research is focused on minimising impacts on non-target species.
This dataset contains details of non-target numbers in the Shark Control program by species, date of capture, and location from 2001
Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
License information was derived automatically
Representative example dialogue and narration showing sharks in a positive light.
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Unprovoked vs. Provoked - GSAF defines a provoked incident as one in which the shark was speared, hooked, captured or in which a human drew "first blood". Although such incidents are of little interest to shark behaviorists, when the species of shark involved is known and pre-op photos of the wounds are available, the bite patterns are of value in determining species of shark involved in other cases when the species could not identified by the patient or witnesses. We know that a live human is rarely perceived as prey by a shark. Many incidents are motivated by curiosity, others may result when a shark perceives a human as a threat or competitor for a food source, and could be classed as "provoked" when examined from the shark's perspective.Incidents involving Boats – Incidents in which a boat was bitten or rammed by a shark are in green. However, in cases in which the shark was hooked, netted or gaffed, the entry is orange because they are classed as provoked incidents.Casualties of War & Air/Sea Disasters - Sharks maintain the health of the marine ecosystem by removing the dead or injured animals. Many incidents result because, like other animals that don't rely on instinct alone, sharks explore their environment. Lacking hands, they may investigate an unfamiliar object with their mouths. Unlike humans, there is no malice in sharks; they simply do what nature designed them to do. Air/Sea Disasters are accidents that place people into the day-to-day business of sharks. The wartime losses due to sharks result from mans' cruelty to man. Air/Sea Disasters are in yellow.Questionable incidents - Incidents in which there are insufficient data to determine if the injury was caused by a shark or the person drowned and the body was later scavenged by sharks. In a few cases, despite media reports to the contrary, evidence indicated there was no shark involvement whatsoever. Such incidents are in blue.All of the data on this site comes from the Global Shark Attack File (GSAF), a spreadsheet of human/shark interactions, compiled by the Shark Research Institute. It is hoped that this site makes it apparent that shark attacks are extremely rare occurrences, while providing an easily accessible resource for those wishing to know more about the subject.