Shark Attacks: Low Fatality Rates Still Equal High Anxiety

July 24, 2007 — -- Fearful swimmers can breathe a little easier this summer knowing that the odds of being attacked by a shark are far less than their chances of being hit by a car, a boat or even lightning, according to statistics compiled by the Shark Research Center at the University of Florida.

Twenty-three shark attacks have been reported so far this year, 15 of them in the United States, and all of them nonfatal, said George Burgess, director of the center, which tracks the details of shark attacks worldwide.

The most recent shark attack occurred last weekend near Bellow Beach in Hawaii, where Harvey Miller, 36, felt something grab his left leg while he was snorkeling. Miller, who was rescued from the ocean by an onlooker, survived the attack.

"But we are just now getting into the summer season when we get the most activity between humans and sharks," said Burgess. "We have been averaging 61 to 62 attacks per year for the last five years."

Four fatalities resulted from 44 shark attacks last year, according to Burgess' International Shark Attack File.

If you consider how many humans enter the water annually, relative to the level of reported shark attacks, these numbers are not that alarming, experts say.

"When you consider the great numbers of human beings in the water on any given day and the large number of shark predators that are in the same water, it's actually very surprising there aren't more incidents every year," said Dr. Robert Hueter, director of The Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory. "I think that's just proof that sharks aren't targeting human beings because if they were, they must not be very good at it."

Alarming or not, everyone seems to have sharks on the brain at this time of year, thanks to the annual onset of shark attack stories in the media and popular television programming like the Discovery Channel's Shark Week.

Despite people's perpetual fear of the animals, experts told ABC News that sharks are largely misunderstood.