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CNN Live At Daybreak

Two Fatal Shark Attacks in Three Days Seen as Unusual

Aired September 04, 2001 - 08:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to be talking about shark attacks now, and those latest shark attacks in North Carolina and Virginia are just part of the story we've been following all summer.

You know, when sharks attack it of course makes headlines, but is it any more dangerous to go into the water today than it was last week, a year ago?

So we checking in with CNN environment correspondent Natalie Pawelski to get a reality check and take a look at the data and see what you found on the Internet.

NATALIE PAWELSKI, CNN ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Carol, in the United States, two fatal shark attacks in three days is certainly unusual. But the number of shark attacks domestically and worldwide is about on a -- it's less than last year actually.

We tried to kind of take a step back take a deep breath and look at historic trends, and we found that the International Shark Attack file at the University of Florida -- this -- these represent shark attacks over the past 100 years.

LIN: So you can see it going up?

PAWELSKI: Absolutely. And what's interesting is it's broken down according to what the victims were doing. And you'll notice the biggest increase, the red bar, represents surfer, and researchers will say, hey, they're out there in the water -- obviously there are more surfers now than there were in 1900, so you'd expect more attacks on them -- and they're out there splashing around, doing things that might make a shark think they're a fish or dinner.

LIN: What about, you know, Jessie Arbogast was just standing in the water, this couple just standing in the water yesterday?

PAWELSKI: That will always happen, and it's a genuine tragedy for the people involved and the families involved. But it's sort of like getting on an airplane, you know that there's always a chance it might crash. But when you look at the numbers the risk simply isn't that great.

LIN: But two planes don't crash in 48 hours, just like these two shark attacks in Virginia. PAWELSKI: Yes, the numbers really are remarkable. Basically, we got a year's worth of fatal shark attacks in three days. Past 10 year there's been between zero and two people killed in the United States every year by sharks, so we got a whole year in three days.

LIN: What about population? Is it related to population, these attacks?

PAWELSKI: Yes, there also some interesting numbers if you look at coastal areas of the world where you do get shark attacks. It's not perfect, but it tending to be, like here in Florida, as the population increases so do the number of shark attacks. Researchers are tell us, look, there are more people out there, there are more people in the water. And the reporting is better, the information technology is better. So you will continue, over the long-term, to hear more and more about shark attacks.

LIN: Are we setting any records these days?

PAWELSKI: No. Last year was a record worldwide of -- modern record, anyway, for shark attacks, but not this year.

LIN: Yes, isn't that funny, and yet it almost feels like a daily occurrence.

PAWELSKI: It does, doesn't it?

LIN: Thank you. The numbers don't lie.

Thanks, Natalie.

Natalie Pawelski, environment correspondent.

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