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Journal article
Shark bite rates along the US Gulf coast: A first investigation
Environmental sciences (Ruse), Vol.6(1)
2018
Abstract
The Gulf of Mexico is recognized as being home to all the shark species commonly involved in incidents with humans. SatScanTM, a spatial and spacetime statistical tool, was used to determine high-risk and low-risk clusters of bite rates caused by these species along the US Gulf of Mexico coast. The in-existence of any significant high-risk clusters along the coast suggests low shark densities in these waters. Overfishing is probably the most limiting factor but other anthropogenic influences, like altering or destroying shore areas which are commonly used for nursery grounds by these species, may also contribute to the overall low densities. However, each incident is also an independent event of a shark's decision-making to either proceed or abort an encounter before making human contact. Whenever discussing factors influencing shark bite rates, decision making by an individual shark should be part of it.
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Details
- Title
- Shark bite rates along the US Gulf coast
- Publication Details
- Environmental sciences (Ruse), Vol.6(1)
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Hikari Ltd.; Bulgaria
- Number of pages
- 12
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2018 Raid W. Amin, Erich K. Ritter and Bethany A. Bonell. This article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Identifiers
- 99380171995006600
- Academic Unit
- Mathematics and Statistics; Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English