GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File was just updated for another year, finding that unprovoked shark bites were below average in 2025 for Florida while the rest of the world returned to near-average.
For the U.S., the number of unprovoked bites has decreased overall during the last five years but, for 2025, accounted for 38% of all incidents worldwide, according to the report. This figure is a departure from how more than 50% of all incidents had occurred in the U.S. since 2019, the report states.
Eleven of last year’s bites happened in Florida, where Volusia County — often referred to as the shark-bite capital of the world — accounted for six of them, according to the report. Still, 11 bites in 2025 is less than Florida’s five-year annual average of 18 bites.
Global numbers for shark bites leveled out after a sharp reduction of unprovoked bites in 2024, according to the museum. Worldwide, there were a total of 65 bites reported in 2025 — nine of which resulted in fatalities — described as slightly less than the most recent 10-year average of 72 bites, the report states.
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“The International Shark Attack Files provide baseline data about shark attacks on people that are rigorously and scientifically investigated, evaluated and summarized on an annual basis. While a significant fraction of incidents likely go unreported, the temporal trends, and local and global patterns of incidents are used to evaluate the biology of the animals, their behavior and the risk they pose to humans,” Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research at the Florida Museum of Natural History, said in a statement.
The museum’s International Shark Attack File was established in 1958 and includes records dating back to the 1500s. The annual reports are primarily focused on unprovoked bites, defined as incidents in which a person does not initiate contact with a shark, intentionally or otherwise. Activities that influence a shark’s behavior, such as spearfishing or releasing a shark from a hook or net, are not included in the report.
Brooke Bowser, Florida Museum
Read more at the museum’s website.