Editing Shark attack (section)

== Species involved in incidents ==
[[File:Snorkeler with blacktip reef shark.jpg|thumb|300px|left|A [[blacktip reef shark]]. In rare circumstances such as poor visibility, blacktips may bite humans, mistaking them for prey. Under normal conditions, however, they are harmless and often even quite shy.]]
Only a few shark species are dangerous to humans. Out of more than 480 [[List of sharks|shark species]], only three are responsible for two-digit numbers of fatal unprovoked attacks on humans: the [[great white shark|great white]], [[tiger shark|tiger]] and [[bull shark|bull]].<ref name="isaf" /> However, the [[oceanic whitetip shark|oceanic whitetip]] has probably killed many more ship wreck and plane crash survivors, who have not been included in the statistics.<ref name="howstuffdangerous4" /> These sharks, being large and powerful predators, may sometimes attack and kill people, even though all have been filmed in open water by unprotected divers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051231/NEWS11/512310330/1001/NEWS |title=Hawaiian newspaper article |publisher=Honoluluadvertiser.com |access-date=23 September 2010}}</ref><ref>The [[1992 Cageless shark-diving expedition]] by Ron and Valerie Taylor.</ref> The 2009 French film ''[[Oceans (film)|Oceans]]'' shows footage of humans swimming next to sharks in the ocean. It is possible that the sharks can sense the presence of unnatural elements on or about the divers, such as polyurethane diving suits and air tanks, which may lead them to accept the divers as more of a curiosity than prey. Uncostumed humans, however, such as those surfboarding, light snorkeling or swimming, present a much greater area of exposed skin surface to sharks. In addition, the presence of even small traces of blood, recent minor abrasions, cuts, scrapes, or bruises, may lead sharks to attack a human in their environment. Sharks seek out prey through [[electroreception]], sensing the electric fields that are generated by all animals due to the activity of their nerves and muscles.

Most of the oceanic whitetip shark's attacks have not been recorded,<ref name="howstuffdangerous4" /> unlike the other three species mentioned above. Famed oceanographic researcher [[Jacques Cousteau]] described the oceanic whitetip as "the most dangerous of all sharks".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cousteau |first1=Jacques-Yves |last2=Cousteau |first2=Philippe |name-list-style=amp |title=The Shark: Splendid Savage of the Sea|publisher= Doubleday & Company, Inc|year=1970}}</ref> [[File:Watsonandtheshark-original.jpg|thumb|''[[Watson and the Shark]]'' by [[John Singleton Copley|J.S. Copley]], based on the attack on [[Brook Watson]] in [[Havana Harbor]] in 1749]]
Modern-day statistics show the oceanic whitetip shark as seldom being involved in unprovoked attacks. However, there have been a number of attacks involving this species, particularly during [[World War I]] and [[World War II]]. The oceanic whitetip lives in the open sea and rarely shows up near coasts, where most recorded incidents occur. During the world wars, many ship and aircraft disasters happened in the open ocean, and because of its former abundance, the oceanic whitetip was often the first species on site when such a disaster happened.

Infamous examples of oceanic whitetip attacks include the sinking of the [[RMS Nova Scotia (1926)|''Nova Scotia'']], a British steamship carrying 1,000 people that was torpedoed by a [[German submarine]] on 18 November 1942, near [[South Africa]]. Only 192 people survived, with many deaths attributed to the oceanic whitetip shark.<ref>Bass, A.J., J.D. D'Aubrey & N. Kistnasamy. 1973. "Sharks of the east coast of southern Africa. 1. The genus Carcharhinus (Carcharhinidae)." Invest. Rep. Oceanogr. Res. Inst., Durban, no. 33, 168 pp.</ref> The same species is believed to have been responsible for many of the 600–800 or more casualties following the torpedoing of the [[USS Indianapolis (CA-35)|USS ''Indianapolis'']] on 30 July 1945.<ref>{{cite web|last=Martin|first=R. Aidan|title=Elasmo Research|publisher=ReefQuest|access-date=6 February 2006|url=http://www.elasmo-research.org/education/shark_profiles/carcharhinidae.htm}}</ref>

[[Black December]] refers to at least nine shark attacks on [[human]]s, causing six [[death]]s, that occurred along the [[coast]] of [[KwaZulu-Natal]] Province, [[South Africa]], from 18 December 1957 to 5 April 1958.<ref name="NatGeo">{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0603_020604_shark2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020605020124/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/06/0603_020604_shark2.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 June 2002|title=South Africa Rethinks Use of Shark Nets|access-date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

In addition to the four species responsible for a significant number of fatal attacks on humans, a number of other species have attacked humans without being provoked, and have on extremely rare occasions been responsible for a human death. This group includes the [[shortfin mako shark|shortfin mako]], [[hammerhead shark|hammerhead]], [[Galapagos shark|Galapagos]], [[grey reef shark|grey reef]], [[blacktip shark|blacktip]], [[lemon shark|lemon]], [[silky shark]], and [[blue shark|blue]] sharks.<ref name="isaf" /> These sharks are also large, powerful predators which can be provoked simply by being in the water at the wrong time and place, but they are normally considered less dangerous to humans than the previous group.

On the evening of 16 March 2009, a new addition was made to the list of sharks known to have attacked human beings. In a painful but not directly life-threatening incident, a long-distance swimmer crossing the Alenuihaha Channel between the islands of Hawai'i and Maui was attacked by a [[cookiecutter shark]]. The two bites were delivered about 15 seconds apart.<ref>University of Florida News [https://web.archive.org/web/20110813084241/http://news.ufl.edu/2011/06/30/cookiecutter-shark/ New study documents first cookiecutter shark attack on a live human]</ref>

<gallery class="center" caption="The three most commonly involved sharks">
File:White shark.jpg|The [[great white shark]] is involved in the most fatal unprovoked attacks<ref name="GSAF-sppStats" />
File:Scarface-tigershark.jpg|The [[Galeocerdo cuvier|tiger shark]] ranks as the second most fatal in unprovoked attacks<ref name="GSAF-sppStats">{{cite web |url=http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/statistics/species3.htm |title=ISAF Statistics on Attacking Species of Shark |publisher=Global Shark Attack File |date=9 May 2020 |access-date=9 May 2020}}</ref>
File:Bullshark Beqa Fiji 2007.jpg|The [[Carcharhinus leucas|bull shark]] ranks as the third most fatal in unprovoked attacks<ref name="GSAF-sppStats" />
</gallery>