Jan 3, 2012 - A 6' bronze whaler (copper shark) attacked 28 year Mike Wells while surfing off North Avoca Beach, New South Wales, Australia. His lower right arm and wrist were lacerated.
Jan 15, 2012 - FATAL - 25 year old Lungisani Msungubana was attacked and killed by a bull shark while swimming at Second beach, Port St. John's, South Africa.
Jan 18, 2012 - A bull shark attacked 44 year old Glen Folkard while surfing off Redhead Beach, New South Wales, Australia. He suffered lacerations to his thigh and buttocks.
Jan 19, 2012 - A 3M (10') tiger shark attacked 26 year old David Pickering while snorkelling off Coral Bay, Western Australia. He suffered lacerations to his right forearm.
March 4, 2012 - An unknown shark bit 19 year old Justin Worral twice on the leg and foot while kite-surfing off Play Linda Beach, Brevard Country, Florida, and caused lacerations.
March 14, 2012 - An unknown shark attacked 15 year old Sidney Levy twice while she was surfing off New Smyrna beach, Volusia County, Florida. Her ankle was lacerated.
March 14, 2012 - At around the same time, an unknown shark attacked 17 year old Nick Romano at the same beach. His calf was lacerated. In both cases, the shark was described as being 4' - 5' long.
March 15, 2012 - A 5' - 6' long bull shark attacked 61 year old Frank A Wacha Jnr. as he was surfing off Jensen beach, Martin Country, Florida. He suffered multiple lacerations to his left arm.
March 20, 2012 - A small bull shark attacked 20 year old Billy O'Leary as he was surfing off Nobby Beach, Gold Coast, Australia. He suffered deep lacerations to his lower left leg.
March 31, 2012 -FATAL - A 4m shark, possibly a great white, attacked and killed 33 year old Peter Kurmann while diving off Stratham Beach in Southwest Australia.
April 3, 2012 - a 10' tiger shark bit 28 year old Joshua Holley twice on the foot while surfing off the North Shore of Oahu, Honolulu.
April 12, 2012 - a great white shark bit 27 year old Michael Demasi on the thigh, causing grazing. He was kayaking in Dolphin Bay, South Australia, at the time, and he jumped out into the water to inspect the damage when he spotted the shark, which had come from below. It continued to attack his kayak, but left him alone.
April 19, 2012 - FATAL - a 4 - 5m great white shark savaged 20 year old David Lilienfeld while surfing at Koeel Bay, Cape Town, South Africa.
April 19, 2012 - an unknown 5' shark bit the hand of 28 year old Justin Ellingham while surfing at Melbourne Beach, Brevard County, Florida, USA. His fingers required reconstructive surgery.
May 6, 2012 - a great white shark bit the paddleboard of 15 year old Rose McKereghan as she was paddle boarding off Catalina Island, California, USA. She suffered no injury.
May 9, 2012 - an unknown shark bit the upper left thigh of 47 year old German national Karin Ulrike Stei as she was swimming off Vero Beach, Indian River County, Florida, USA. She suffered a severe wound and was lucky not to lose her leg.
May 12 - a great white shark attack the kayak of 30 year old Joey Nocchi at Leffingwell Landing, Cambria, Humboltd County, California, USA. He suffered no injury despite being knocked into the water by the force of the attack.
May15, 2012 - an unknown shark attacked 20 year old Tevita Naborisi while spearfishing at Matacucu Reef, Fiji. It bit is head causing severe injuries.
May 20, 2012 - an 8' - 9' tiger shark bit the kayak in which Jerry Gallardo was sitting fishing, at Iroquiois Point, Oahu, Hawaii. He suffered no injury, but his kayak was left with teeth-marks.
May 23, 2012 - a 4' - 5' unknown shark attacked 22 year old Chad Renfro while surfing at Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida, USA. He suffered foot lacerations.
May 29, 2012 - a 3m bull shark attacked 46 year old Benigno Medina Navarette while spearfishing at
Boca de la Leña, La Unión, Guerrerro,Mexico. It bit off his left hand.
May 31, 2012 - a 1.5' - 2' long unknown shark bit the foot of 33 year old Megan Konkler as she was wading in shallow water at Avon, Hatteras Island, Outer Banks, Dare County, North Carolina, USA.
June 2, 2012 - an unknown shark attacked the foot of 25 year old Ryan Orellana-Maczynski as he was boogie-boarding at Myrtle Beach, Horry County, South Carolina, USA. His foot was badly bitten.
June 3, 2012 - a 3m white pointer shark attacked the ski of 30 year old Mark Ayre as he was surf-skiing at Redhead Beach, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. he suffered no injury.
June 12, 2012, - a 1.5m unknown shark attacked 42 year old Mike Higgins as he was surfing at Port Campbell, Victoria, Australia. His right foot was lacerated.
June 14, 2012 - an unknown shark attacked 16 year old Jordan Garosalo at Myrtle Beach, Horry County, South Carolina, USA. His right foot was lacerated.
June 18, 2012 - an unknown shark bit the leg of 6 year old Brooklyn Daniel at Ocean Isle, Brunswick County, North Carolina, USA, as he was wading in shallow water.
June 20, 2012 - a 3m unknown shark attacked the ski of 62 year old Martin Kane as he was surf-skiing at Mullaloo Beach, Perth, Western Australia, as he was surf-skiing. His ski was badly damaged but he was uninjured.
June 26, 2012 - a small reef shark bit 16 year old Sage St. Clair as she was sitting in shallow water at Kahana Beach, Maui, Hawaii. She suffered lacerations to he left thigh.
June 26, 2012 - an unknown shark nipped the left foot of a 26 year old surfer at New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Florida, USA.
June 26, 2012 - an unknown shark severely bit the thigh of 6 year old
Nickolaus Bieber at Juno Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida, USA.
great white shark Credit: istockphoto.com/Chuck Babbitt -
Shark attacks are not common, in fact they are very rare indeed.
That is why they makes the world’s Press when they happen.
At the same time it is important we learn that sharks are at the top of the oceanic food chain.
We humans are top of the food chain on land. We belong in the land. They belong in the sea.
While it would be nice to surmise that "never the twain shall meet", in reality we do meet, because we go into the sea.
It is worth pointing out that sharks do not come on land, therefore when we meet a shark, it is on their territory, not ours.
Even so, with millions of us taking to the waters on various pursuits daily, whether that be fishing, diving, bathing, surfing or taking part in any water sports, or even being shipwrecked at sea, there are still relatively few encounters between shark and man.
There are less than 100 reported shark attacks a year, and only a small percentage of them are fatal.
Sharks are naturally inquisitive creatures, and many shark attacks can be put down to a shark tasting us, to see if we are food.
We are alien to them; they do not know what we are.
Very seldom do sharks continue to attack and bite us after the first taste.
I suppose we are not salty enough, or perhaps because we have too many bones.
Commonly people who have been bitten by a shark will see the shark back off, giving the victim time to get out of the water.
This is especially true of great white sharks, the type of sharks who are responsible for the most attacks on humans.
The problem with being given even a ‘friendly’ bite by a great white, is that their teeth are designed for tearing, and they are very big, powerful animals, so sometimes we die from just one bite, especially if an artery was torn.
Torn arteries in shark attacks
Arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart at tremendous speeds, so when one is severed, the blood spurts out at a frightening rate. We can lose so much blood so quickly in a really short space of time, that our internal organs shut down, and we die.
A severed artery needs to be stopped up within 3 minutes.
That is why it is of vital importance that everybody learns how to stop someone bleeding to death, or slow down the blood loss until emergency services arrive.
Sharks usually only bite once then realise their mistake
Great whites aside, some sharks do continue biting after the first taste.
Many smaller sharks go into what could be described as a feeding frenzy, when they just lose control and bite and snap at everything in the water, including each other if there are a shoal of them.
This shark is commonly called the ‘pitbull of the sea’ and for good reason. It’s just a nutter!
Bull sharks when they attack become just like a rabid pitbull, biting and attacking and not stopping, which is why there are a higher percentage of deaths in people attacked by bull sharks than there are for great whites.
bull shark
The vast majority of types of sharks are timid creatures, who would swim away rather than face confrontation.
Even out of the big 3 - the white, tiger and bull shark, most of them totally ignore us even when we swim in the same area of water as them.
However, because of the damage they are capable of inflicting, it is always better to vacate the water the minute the shark spotters tell you there is a shark in the area.
We just never know when they might attack.
If we want to avoid shark attacks, then we have to give them the respect they deserve when we are in their homes, which are the oceans and seas of the world.
