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FLORIDA - Florida continues to draw visitors for its beaches, but data shows the state also has the highest number of recorded shark attacks in the United States.
According to tide forecasting platform Tideschart, which used shark attack records from the Shark Research Institute and beach locations from the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water, New Smyrna Beach in Volusia County recorded 277 shark attacks from 1642 to 2024.
This total is more than four times higher than Daytona Beach, which ranks second with 67 incidents, followed by Cocoa Beach with 39 attacks.
Several South Florida beaches appear in the top ten.
Palm Beach ranks fifth with 35 recorded attacks, while Jupiter Beach Park and Riviera Beach, both in Palm Beach County, are eighth and ninth with 23 and 21 incidents, respectively.
Miami Beach ranks lower, tied for 12th place with St. Augustine Beach and Galveston, Texas, each reporting 17 shark attacks.
Other U.S. beaches in the top ten include Indialantic Boardwalk, Fort Pierce Inlet, Cape Canaveral, and Myrtle Beach and Isle of Palms in South Carolina.
Ryan Blundell, founder of Tideschart, noted the concentration of shark attacks along Florida’s coastlines is notable, but these numbers cover nearly four centuries of data.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission states that the likelihood of a shark bite is extremely low, and most bites are not life-threatening.
Swimmers are advised to follow safety recommendations such as avoiding dawn or dusk swimming and steering clear of large schools of fish to minimize risk.