Explained: When shark bites are fatal, and which species kill the most

The study categorised injury locations into four body areas (head, arm, torso, and leg) to assess how injury location affects recovery status (fatal or injured).

Tiger sharks were found proportionally responsible for the most fatalities of all shark species in Australia. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

A study in Nature Scientific Data describes the Australian Shark-Incident Database, with comprehensive reports of 1,196 shark bites in Australia over 231 years (1791–2022).

Collated by the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, the dataset will be publicly available. It will aid scientists, conservationists, authorities, and members of the public to make informed decisions when implementing or selecting mitigation measures, the authors wrote.

Proportion of Australian shark bites resulting in either fatality or injury. (Riley, Meagher, Huveneers, et al, Nature Scientific Data)

LOCATION OF BITE: The study categorised injury locations into four body areas (head, arm, torso, and leg) to assess how injury location affects recovery status (fatal or injured). Deaths most often occurred following shark bites to the torso, the analysis found. “This is likely due to the injuries to organs and major arteries resulting in blood loss, which is a leading cause of shark-bite fatalities,” the study said.

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SHARK SPECIES: Tiger sharks were found proportionally responsible for the most fatalities of all shark species in Australia (38% of all tiger shark bites result in fatality), followed by bull sharks (32% of bites fatal), and white sharks (25% of bites fatal). White sharks are responsible for the largest number of bites on humans (361 total) compared to tiger (229 total) and bull sharks (197 total). At the time of publication, white and tiger sharks were each responsible for 91 and 86 total fatalities on humans in Australia, respectively.

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