New Smyrna Beach’s reputation as the world’s shark attack capital is pervasive. When will county officials stand up to do something about it? Photo: Bernard Dupont/Flickr
These days, it seems any time a video surfaces of a shark swimming a little too close to a lineup, it sends the global surf community into a tizzy. But, for how out of proportion things are often blown, sharks do present a real danger. I myself survived an encounter, and have a jagged scar stretching across my right leg to prove it.
Certain places in the world are understood in the surf community’s collective psyche to be especially sharky. Reúnion Island. Jeffrey’s Bay. Western Australia. Byron Bay. Here in the States, though, Volusia County, Florida, and specifically New Smyrna Beach, has gained a reputation as the wold’s shark attack capital.
The University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF) documents all confirmed, unprovoked shark attacks dating from 1882 to 2018. Statistics from 2017 indicate that Volusia County, nestled on the east coast of Florida, now has the highest frequency of shark attacks in not only the United States, but the entire world. It is home to the notoriously sharky New Symrna, which ironically boasts one of the best breaks in the entire state.
Let’s check the stats for reported unprovoked attacks in 2017:
Worldwide: 88
United States: 53
Florida: 31
Volusia County: 9
In other words, more than 10 percent of documented shark attacks worldwide occurred within a single state’s county in 2017. I’m going to assume here that Volusians are not particularly tasty morsels, nor that the sharks lurking around the county’s beaches are especially hungry.
Most researchers claim that Volusia is slightly “shark-infested” because New Smyrna Beach generally has a huge amount of people congregated in one small stretch of shoreline.
In August of 2017, dozens of sharks were spotted off the coast of New Smyrna Beach. Officials promptly closed the beach to the public as a precaution. When sharks are spotted there(especially in schools of over 10), it’s protocol for lifeguards and city officials to close off public beaches; this is a general mitigation response to an incoming threat. Yet, Floridian ocean-goers suffer an insane amount of encounters year after year, and the primary mitigation measures in addition to periodically closing beaches to the public appear to be research and observation. I wonder if the Volusia County Council might take a more precautionary approach in order to remove the teeth from this issue.
After the swift rise and decline in the popularity of drum-lines previously used to bait and kill a certain pelagic species wandering outside Western Australia’s popular swimming spots, researchers have developed a more ecologically conscious way to protect public beaches. The newest tech to sense sharks prowling outside the lineup of public beaches is the “clever buoy” designed by Smart Marine Systems. This big yellow monitor specializes in detecting marine life via sonar, visually “netting” the not-so-friendly pelagic species, and alerting lifeguards via app notification to an incoming shark; all within a couple of minutes.
A few months ago, the clever buoy became available in the US, and the desired location for trial was set to be Corona Del Mar, California – a few ticks north of San Onofre where Maria Korcsmaros suffered a serious non-fatal attack in 2016. On May 28th, Congressman Dana Rohrbacher reaffirmed his commitment to the safety of Southern California’s beachgoers out of the concern that growing juvenile sharks will continue to repopulate.
“There’s some technology in Australia that is at work doing the job, and we could put it to work here and save lives,” he said at a press event held in Corona Del Mar. Rohrbacher also made a point to emphasize this technology’s ability to save the thriving tourism industry supporting Southern California beaches. This summer, six Orange County beaches will be able to bear witness to this groundbreaking technology – the ding of an iPhone will tell you if there is a shark in the water.
Looking back at ISAF’s data, and knowing Volusia County has yet to begin to consider the implementation of such technologies gave me pause. Orange County isn’t exactly shark central – not even for California. That title belongs to the County of San Diego which has experienced the most documented attacks in the state (1926-present) at 18. That pales in comparison to Volusia’s numbers – 299 confirmed attacks since 1926. Surprise!
Now, I fully recognize that Floridian attacks tend to be non-fatal while in West Oz and California, 13-foot great whites frequently visit the lineup. But a non-fatal shark-attack is generally a little more severe than just a nibble. And New Symrna’s nickname as the “Shark Attack Capital” is certainly doing its part to scare away tourists.
In light of this newly available technology, it’s a surprise, really, that county officials aren’t jumping at the opportunity to test it (or any mitigation technology for that matter) in its notoriously sharky waters. So when, if ever, will New Smyrna shake its sharky reputation?
Editor’s Note: ISAF did not respond to repeated requests for comment on this story.
