The Most Dangerous Sharks Species

This table is derived from The International Shark Attack File -- ISAF. Specifically it is adapted from a table titled "Species of shark implicated in attacks around the world, 1580 - December 2002" that appears at http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/Statistics/species2.htm

The author notes that "Positive identification of attacking sharks is very difficult since victims rarely make adequate observations of the attacker during the "heat" of the interaction. Tooth remains are seldom found in wounds and diagnostic characters for many requiem sharks (family Carcharhinidae) are difficult to discern even by trained professionals. That said, this list must be used with caution because attacks involving easily identified species, such as white, tiger, sandtiger, hammerhead and nurse sharks, nearly always identify the attacking species, while cases involving difficult to identify species, such as requiem sharks of the genus Carcharhinus, seldom correctly identify the attacker. Thus the list is skewed to readily identified species."

Species Name	Common Name	Recorded Attacks
Carcharodon carcharias,	white	373
Galeocerdo cuvier,	tiger	137
Carcharhinus leucas,	bull	88
Carcharias taurus,	sand tiger	67
Carcharhinus limbatus,	blacktip	32
Carcharhinus spp.,	requiem	48
Sphyrna spp.,	hammerhead	35
Prionace glauca,	blue	34
Carcharhinus melanopterus,	blacktip reef	14
Isurus oxyrinchus,	shortfin mako	42