How to know when the shark attack risk is highest (by month)

This article offers general information on when the greatest shark attack risks exist in a few geographic areas (by month). I offer it as just another piece of common sense to use in your desire to swim, kayak, dive or surf in safety.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. WEST COAST OF USA: Most dangerous months are August-September. This is great white territory. One theory is that during these months, the sharks follow a trout or salmon migration, when the fish congregate at river mouths. It is not entirely known if the sharks come for the fish, or for the pinnipeds that eat the fish, but in either case, great whites come into the shallows during these months, greatly increasing encounters with people.
2. FLORIDA, USA: Most dangerous months are July-October. This stat could simply reflect when most bathers enter the water in Florida, though there could be a migrational link with sharks such as lemons during this time. Most attacks in Florida come from blacktip or spinner sharks, and are usually minor, but bull sharks and tigers are sometimes involved, which means the attacks tend to be more serious.
3. HAWAII, USA: Most dangerous months are March-April and October-November. Ironically, these months also represent the times when the least amount of swimmers enter the water. This fact places the conventional wisdom that increased shark attacks are always proportional to an increase in bathers into question. Nearly all serious shark attacks in Hawaii are from tiger sharks.
4. SOUTH AFRICA: Most dangerous months are August-September. As on the west coast of the USA, great white sharks come into the shallows during these months, possibly following a seasonal migration of bait fish - and the food chain that accompanies them.
5. SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: Most dangerous months are December-March... December and January in particular. Several species have been implicated, including great whites, tiger sharks and bull sharks. Aside from the Great Barrier Reef, most of Australian waters offer little food for large sharks, making them more likely to attack as a feeding response than some other geographies.

Tips & Warnings

• Shark attacks, in any month, remain relatively rare, though perhaps not quite as rare as some would have you believe. For more on this subject, please visit my site, http://sharkconspiracies.net.