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A man died Sunday morning local time after being attacked by a shark off Cable Beach in Broome, in the northwestern part of Australia. Death is the eighth of the year, an unusually large number. Now the country is one death toll from reaching the highest reported annual figure, which is 1929.
Last year, not a single person was killed by shark attacks in Australia. The attacks this year have taken place in several different places in the country, including outside the states of Queensland and New South Wales.
In terms of the total the number of shark attacks, on the other hand, will not stand out much for 2020. According to the Taronga Foundation, which maintains statistics of attacks in the country, there have been 22 so far this year. The average for the last decade is 20.
However, fatal attacks are unusually numerous. On average, no more than one person dies each year. In 2015, 32 attacks occurred, but only two people died.
Researchers are not sure why unprovoked shark attacks occur, making it difficult to explain why more deaths occur during certain years. However, last year, researchers in an Australian study were able to draw conclusions about where the attacks would occur based on weather temperatures and rainfall, the BBC writes.
The risk of a shark attack it was higher after a heavy storm, the researchers found. The reason was that the precipitation brought with it nutrients, which attracted fish, which in turn attracted sharks in search of food.
The researchers also pointed to the strength of ocean currents as a factor because they affect both water temperature and precipitation. As the strength of the currents changes due to global warming, climate change may lead to more or fewer shark attacks in the future, says one of the BBC researchers.
