Each year, summertime in the northern hemisphere brings a renewed interest in shark encounters, as people flock to nearby beaches. Shark attacks on humans remain rare, despite the attention given to several recent incidents. The Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File reports that there were 57 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in 2022, and that long-term trends actually show a decreasing number of annual fatalities. Gathered below are recent images of humans observing and interacting with sharks around the world.
A Look Into the Wondrous Lives of Sharks
Hints:
View this page full screen.
Skip to the next and previous photo by typing j/k or ←/→.
-
![An underwater view, looking up, of a group of sharks swimming in circles]()
Read moreWhitetip reef sharks follow a scent trail in the Pacific Ocean off Costa Rica's Cocos Island. #
Jeff Rotman / Getty -
-
![A great white shark jumps out of the water at sunrise.]()
Read moreA great white shark breaches at sunrise off the coast of South Africa. #
USO / iStockphoto / Getty -
![Several people in a small boat are seen, in an aerial photograph, pursuing a shark in shallow water.]()
Read moreAn Atlantic White Shark Conservancy boat and crew work to tag a great white shark in the waters off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on July 13, 2019. #
Joseph Prezioso / AFP / Getty -
![An underwater view, looking down, of a shark swimming in an ocean]()
Read moreA shark swims through through the water during an outing with diving company Emerald Charters off Jupiter Inlet, Florida, on May 18, 2022. #
Sam Wolfe / Reuters -
-
![A small shark rests on a sandy seabed.]()
Read moreA bamboo shark, raised at the Marine Discovery Center at SAii Phi Phi Island Village Resort, rests on the seabed after being released into the sea off Thailand's Ko Ma island on the Andaman coast on November 25, 2021. #
Lillian Suwanrumpha / AFP / Getty -
![An aerial view of a person swimming in shallow water among half a dozen sharks]()
Read moreA free diver swims next to sandbar sharks in the Mediterranean Sea near the northern Israeli coastal city of Hadera, on December 30, 2022. Dozens of sandbar and dusky sharks had gathered off the coast of northern Israel, where the waters of the Mediterranean are warmer due to the impact of the Orot Rabin power plant. #
Jack Guez / AFP / Getty -
![A close view of a great white shark swimming near the ocean's surface]()
Read moreA great white shark swims near Isla Guadalupe, Mexico. #
Benjamin Lowy / Getty -
-
![Several people look through a large round window into an aquarium, where a hammerhead shark and other fish can be seen swimming.]()
Read morePeople watch sharks and fish swim at the Miami Seaquarium, in Key Biscayne, Florida, on November 27, 2019. #
Ludovic Marin / AFP / Getty -
![Several people work to pull a long net out of the surf in a bay.]()
Read moreMembers of a shark-spotter crew pull in an exclusion net at Fish Hoek Beach, a popular swimming and surfing spot in Cape Town, South Africa, on November 17, 2020. The exclusion net is a barrier across one section of the bay, set up to keep sharks out. The net is taken in at the end of the day and set up again in the morning. #
Rodger Bosch / AFP / Getty -
![A great white shark swims near two divers suspended inside a cage.]()
Read moreA great white shark investigates cage divers near Guadalupe Island, Mexico. #
Rodrigo Friscione / Image Source / Getty -
-
![A shark is seen swimming over a distant ocean floor.]()
Read moreA shark cruises over the ocean bottom during a scuba trip with diving company Emerald Charters off Jupiter Inlet, Florida, on May 18, 2022. #
Sam Wolfe / Reuters -
![An over-under photo showing a shark just below the surface of the water, with a cloudy sky above]()
Read moreA shortfin mako shark swims off Cape Point, South Africa. #
Alessandro De Maddalena / iStockphoto / Getty -
![A shark surrounded by several smaller fish swims in deep water.]()
Read moreA blacktip shark circles its prey above Aliwal Shoal, in South Africa. #
Steve Woods Photography / Image Source / Getty -
-
![An aerial view of a beach with one person running while a shark is visible in the shallow surf]()
Read moreA person runs as a great white shark swims just meters away on the Cape Cod National Sea Shore, on the eastern side of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on July 15, 2022. The coast of Massachusetts is home to many white sharks during the summer months. With interest in sharks growing, a shark-related tourism industry, including sightseeing tours, has sprung up in places such as Chatham. #
Joseph Prezioso / AFP / Getty -
![A person walks their dogs on the beach next to warning signs, including a sign that says "Be Shark Smart."]()
Read moreA person walks with their dogs at Newcomb Hollow Beach, in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, on May, 22, 2019, where a Boogie boarder was bitten by a shark in 2018 and later died of his injuries. #
Charles Krupa, File / Charles Krupa / AP -
![An over-under photo showing scuba divers near a boat, as several sharks approach from a distance]()
Read moreShark ecologist and boat captain Juan Oliphant signals to tourists that many sharks are approaching them, on a cageless shark-dive tour in Haleiwa, Hawaii, on February 16, 2015. #
Hugh Gentry / Reuters -
-
![An underwater photo of a surfer sitting on his board]()
Read moreSurfer Arlen Macpherson sits on his board, which has an electronic shark-repellent device embedded in it, at Sydney's Bondi Beach, in Australia, on August 18, 2015. Macpherson had the device installed in his surf board in order to repel sharks by emitting an electronic field that overpowers its sensing organs. #
David Gray / Reuters -
![A shark swims at night, seen silhouetted by lights.]()
Read moreA newborn blacktip reef shark is silhouetted as it swims at night past the Maya Shark Watch Project's baited remote underwater video station, at the Phi Phi Island National Park's Maya Bay, on Phi Phi Leh Island, Thailand, on February 27, 2023. Blacktips, named after the distinctive black coloring on their dorsal fin and tail, roam the Andaman Sea and other tropical regions in decreasing numbers due to overfishing, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. #
Jorge Silva / Reuters -
![An aerial view of a small shark swimming through a large school of fish]()
Read moreA baby blacktip reef shark swims among a shoal of fish in the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean. #
Westend61 / Getty -
-
![A seal makes an escape as a large shark lunges after it at the water's surface.]()
Read moreA great white shark breaches while hunting, off the South African shore. #
USO / iStockphoto / Getty
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to [email protected].