60 Minutes Shoddy Shark Attack Research

Photo of a shark on a South African tour courtesy of David Salvatori on Flickr.
Are sharks suddenly evolving into man-eaters?!
60 Minutes worries they are. Last night they updated a story on shark tourism, which they blame for sharks "becoming more dangerous."

Their proof? When they did the story in 2005, there had been six attacks off South Africa in the previous two years, three fatal. Before that Bob Simon declares shark attacks "virtually unheard of here." Really?

Look, I know the game. Reporters always have to justify a story with a news peg. But shark attacks deaths aren't one of those nebulous trends like people wearing straw hats; we know exactly how many shark attacks and deaths there are because the Global Shark Attack File keeps track.

The file doesn't show any big increase in South Africa or the world. The file shows that there was about one fatal shark attack per year in South Africa since the early 1980s. Since 60 Minutes reported on this supposed surge in shark attacks in 2005? There have been three confirmed deaths off South Africa (and two deaths where sharks might have been involved). In other words, shark deaths have been following the same pattern for three decades: about one death a year off South Africa. And worldwide it's about five a year.

You know what would've been a smart update? How about the study out just last month that tours off Hawaii aren't really effecting shark behavior?

SHARK WEEK: What's More Dangerous than a Shark?

What could be more scary than a shark? Well, even during SHARK WEEK, pretty much anything.

Sharks kill about five people a year worldwide. The Global Shark Attack File chronicles 4,374 attacks since 1845. (They range from that first report, out of Sri Lanka, "Shark bit him in half, carrying away the lower extremities" to the trivial July 24 incident in Spain where some guy cut his foot.)

Sharks are sexier but not deadlier than:

• The water the shark is in is thousands of times more likely to kill you than the fish. In 2006 3,600 Americans drowned. Every year 260 toddlers drown in pools.
• Guns--just the accidental discharges--killed 642 in 2006, according to the CDC.
• 25 kids a year still suffocate in plastic bags, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says.
• Upholstered furniture takes out 460 Americans annually (because it catches on fire.)
• Extension cords kill 50 people a year in the United States (again, through fire.)