Shark Incidents by Activity

Activity describes what a person was doing when a shark-human interaction was reported. It helps distinguish ordinary swimming or surfing from fishing, shark handling, boating and other contexts.

Raw incident counts by activity are not direct risk rates. Participation, time in the water, geography and behavior vary greatly.

Browse the available categories to understand the circumstances recorded around incidents rather than ranking activities from safest to most dangerous.

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Browse by activity

Circumstances recorded around swimming, surfing, diving, fishing, boating and other activities.

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1 reviewed record(s)

13 men in the water after sailboat capsized & sank

1 reviewed record(s)

25-foot cabin cruiser Happy Jack sank in heavy seas

1 reviewed record(s)

3-masted steel barque Glenbank foundered during a cyclone

1 reviewed record(s)

3.3 m fishing boat sank. Treveluwe & Peter Hodgson (wearing lifejackets) were drifting in the current

1 reviewed record(s)

43-ton schooner Irene capsized & sank

1 reviewed record(s)

90 European civilians, many women & children, were placed on the deck of a Japanese submarine that submerged when it was well offshore

1 reviewed record(s)

A 75-ton Japanese fishing ship was sunk by Chinese Nationalist gunboat, shipwrecked men were clinging to debris

1 reviewed record(s)

a corsair's boat was overturned

1 reviewed record(s)

A father bathing his smallest daughter when the shark bumped her out of his arms and carried her into deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Abalone diving using Hookah (near calving whales)

1 reviewed record(s)

Abalone diving using Hookah (resting on the surface)

1 reviewed record(s)

Adrift after wave swamped engine

1 reviewed record(s)

Adrift on raft after their ship was sunk by an Axis raider

1 reviewed record(s)

Air/Sea Disaster involving C-54 Air Force Transport No. 2686 with 37 on board

1 reviewed record(s)

American cruiser Indianapolis torpedoed & sunk by the Japanese submarine I-58

1 reviewed record(s)

Attempted to return injured shark to the sea

1 reviewed record(s)

Attempting to anesthetize shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Attempting to net shark in shark channel

1 reviewed record(s)

Attempting to rescue an injured & beached shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Attempting to rescue shipmate

1 reviewed record(s)

Attempting to ride or handle a shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing

47 reviewed record(s)

Bathing / attempted rescue

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing / swimming

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing alongside ship

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing alongside the American ship Thomas W. Sears

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing in waist-deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing near whaling ship (bark A. R. Tucker of New Bedford, Massachusetts)

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing or body surfing

1 reviewed record(s)

Bathing with her mother

1 reviewed record(s)

Batin

1 reviewed record(s)

Being brought to shore after a fishing-vessel wreck

1 reviewed record(s)

Bitten after dhow shipwrecked

1 reviewed record(s)

Board sailing

1 reviewed record(s)

Boarding a ship

1 reviewed record(s)

Boat

1 reviewed record(s)

boat capsized

2 reviewed record(s)

Boat capsized, swimming ashore

1 reviewed record(s)

Boat exploded

1 reviewed record(s)

boat from City of Naples capsized

1 reviewed record(s)

boat from the Austrian ship Elizabeth

1 reviewed record(s)

Boat swamped

1 reviewed record(s)

Boat swamped / person in the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Boating

3 reviewed record(s)

Boating and watercraft

1 reviewed record(s)

Body boarding

2 reviewed record(s)

Body Boarding

1 reviewed record(s)

Body found on deserted luxury yacht, 38’ Christine

1 reviewed record(s)

Body recovery

1 reviewed record(s)

Body surfing

4 reviewed record(s)

Body Surfing

1 reviewed record(s)

Body surfing / person lost at sea

1 reviewed record(s)

Boogie boarding

4 reviewed record(s)

Boogie Boarding

1 reviewed record(s)

British cruiser Dunedin torpedoed & sunk by the U-124

1 reviewed record(s)

British ship, Britannia, was loading lumber. He was bathing

1 reviewed record(s)

Burning of the S.S. Missouri

1 reviewed record(s)

Canoe capsized with 10 occupants, 8 survived, Hamilton swam off to seek help

1 reviewed record(s)

Canoeing

2 reviewed record(s)

Capsized fishing boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Captured Allied soldiers were squeezed into 3' bamboo pig baskets & fed to waiting sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Cargo ship Dara sank after collision with another ship during a severe storm

1 reviewed record(s)

Cargo ship El Gamil entroute Suez to Yemen (Aden) when her cargo shifted and she sank. 19 Egyption sailors jumped into the water and swam for several hours before being bitten by sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Checking fish traps, fell into the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Cleaning fish

1 reviewed record(s)

Cleaning the side of a ship

1 reviewed record(s)

Clinging to overturned rowing boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Collecting crayfish

1 reviewed record(s)

Collecting fish by lamplight in gully

1 reviewed record(s)

Collecting ornamental fish

1 reviewed record(s)

Commercial diver (submerged or treading water)

1 reviewed record(s)

Commercial diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Commercial fishing; shark caught in trawl net and landed on vessel

1 reviewed record(s)

Competing in spearfishing championship & towing dead fish

1 reviewed record(s)

Conch diver

1 reviewed record(s)

Crabbing (spearing crabs)

1 reviewed record(s)

Crayfishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Crossing inlet in a boat, seen fighting sharks with his oar, sharks smashed boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Crouching in the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Dived into the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving

25 reviewed record(s)

Diving / fishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving / swimming with sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving / UW photography

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving & force-feeding the shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving and snorkeling

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving around anchored liner

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving for abalone

2 reviewed record(s)

Diving for beche-de-mer

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving for coins

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving for pearl shell

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving for pearls

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving for sea urchins

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving for shellfish

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving for sponges

2 reviewed record(s)

Diving for trochus

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving from canoe

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving in a tuna net / attempting to free porpoises

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving off pier & treading water

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving with surface-supplied air

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving, gathering shellfish

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving, recovering fish killed by dynamite

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving, repairing water main at depth of 90'

1 reviewed record(s)

Diving. Shark “swallowed’ his hand, so he threw his other around the shark and went “shark-back riding” for 30 yards until the shark opened its jaws

1 reviewed record(s)

Dragging a shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Dry shelling

1 reviewed record(s)

Dynamiting fish

1 reviewed record(s)

Escaping from blackbirding vessel

1 reviewed record(s)

Examining a netted shark that had been shot

1 reviewed record(s)

Feeding mullet to sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Feeding sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Feeling the shark’s teeth

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell from his father's back into the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell from the jetty

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell from yardarm of British ship Rover

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell into the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell into water while attempting to boat a swordfish

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell off banana boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell overboard

11 reviewed record(s)

Fell overboard from steamship Rio Grande

1 reviewed record(s)

Fell overboard while fishing for sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Filming

1 reviewed record(s)

Finning the shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Finning the shark that bit him

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing

91 reviewed record(s)

Fishing (rod & line)

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing (trolling)

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing / cleaning fish, dived into water to retrieve a lost fish

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing / handling a hooked shark landed on a boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing competition; hooked mako shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for albacore

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for bluefish, shark leapt into dory

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for mackerel

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for octopus

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for prawns

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for shrimp

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for snapper

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for squid

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for squid aboard the trawler Shikishima-Maru when the shark leapt into the boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing for yellowtail, Seriola quinqueradiata

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing from a boat

3 reviewed record(s)

Fishing from a surf ski

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing from inflatable boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing from prawn trawler

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing in knee-deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing near the municipal pier

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing on a boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing with a cast net

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing with hand net in 2' of water

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, fell from rocks & disappeared

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, hauling in fishing gear

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, on a boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, probably with a net

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, speared shark upset canoe & man fell in water

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, standing in water washing fish

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, Struck by another shark when removing shark from line

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing, tossing netted shark onboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing; handling a hooked shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing; line snagged on rock and victim dived into water to free it

1 reviewed record(s)

Fishing; shark caught in net

1 reviewed record(s)

Fleet of canoes caught by a squall and charged by sharks.

1 reviewed record(s)

Floating

4 reviewed record(s)

Floating face-down in knee-deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Floating in inner tube

1 reviewed record(s)

Floating on back

2 reviewed record(s)

Floating with life buoy after pilot launch capsized

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving

4 reviewed record(s)

Free diving / modeling

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving / Spearfishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving & spearfishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving for abalone

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving while carrying a speargun

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving while inspecting wharf work

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving with a pod of dolphins

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving, Spearfishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Free diving, surveying a pipeline & examing cathodes under jetty

1 reviewed record(s)

Freediving

1 reviewed record(s)

Freedom swimming

1 reviewed record(s)

Gathering shells

1 reviewed record(s)

Gigging for flounder

1 reviewed record(s)

Gloucester fishing schooner run down

1 reviewed record(s)

Grabbed shark & threw it on deck

1 reviewed record(s)

Hard hat diving

2 reviewed record(s)

Harpooning shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Harpooning turtles

1 reviewed record(s)

Helping land a shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Hiking on the beach

1 reviewed record(s)

HMS Victoria collided with the HMS Camperdown

1 reviewed record(s)

Human head found in shark caught by British steamer Syria

1 reviewed record(s)

Hunting seals

1 reviewed record(s)

Hunting seashells

1 reviewed record(s)

Inflatable boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Italian liner Principessa Mafalda sank

1 reviewed record(s)

Jackass Team's publicity stunt for Discovery Channel's Shark Week 2021

1 reviewed record(s)

Jumped into the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Jumped overboard

2 reviewed record(s)

Kayak fishing

2 reviewed record(s)

Kayaking

4 reviewed record(s)

Kite Boarding

1 reviewed record(s)

Kite Surfing

3 reviewed record(s)

Kiteboarding

1 reviewed record(s)

Knocked into the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Knocked overboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Known as The Battle of the Bismarck Sea : 8 Japanese destroyers guarding a convoy of 8 transports were attacked by 129 Allied fighters, 207 bombers & 3 squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force.

1 reviewed record(s)

Lobster fishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Longling fishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Lying on surfboard & paddling

1 reviewed record(s)

M.V. Tropical sank. Sole survivor rode oil drums for 8 days without food or water.

1 reviewed record(s)

male

1 reviewed record(s)

Migrant vessel fire/capsizing

1 reviewed record(s)

Military ocean training

1 reviewed record(s)

Moving captive shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Murdered

1 reviewed record(s)

Murdered by Thai pirates

1 reviewed record(s)

native boats sunk in storm

1 reviewed record(s)

Netting menhaden, sharks caught in net

1 reviewed record(s)

Not recorded

1 reviewed record(s)

On a fishing vessel

1 reviewed record(s)

On a makeshift raft after fishing vessel capsized

1 reviewed record(s)

Overturned skiff

1 reviewed record(s)

Paddle boarding

2 reviewed record(s)

Paddling

1 reviewed record(s)

Paddling / surf ski

1 reviewed record(s)

Paddling an outrigger canoe

1 reviewed record(s)

Painting a ship

1 reviewed record(s)

Pearl diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Playing

1 reviewed record(s)

Playing football in knee-deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Playing in the surf

1 reviewed record(s)

Playing volleyball with friends

1 reviewed record(s)

Professional diving / collecting pen shell

1 reviewed record(s)

Pulling hooked salmon to boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Putting hand in shark tank

1 reviewed record(s)

Reaching for life preserver

1 reviewed record(s)

Removing fish from a trap / handling catch

1 reviewed record(s)

Resting on surfboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Rowing

2 reviewed record(s)

S.S. Ramos foundered in a hurricane. Captain & 14 crew in water-logged lifeboats.

1 reviewed record(s)

S2F-1 airplane crashed immediately after carrier take-off

1 reviewed record(s)

Sailboarding / windsurfing

1 reviewed record(s)

Sailing

1 reviewed record(s)

Scientific research (Dr. Sonny Gruber's student)

1 reviewed record(s)

Scuba / anti-sabotage night exercise

1 reviewed record(s)

Scuba diving

17 reviewed record(s)

Scuba Diving

1 reviewed record(s)

SCUBA diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Scuba diving (but on surface)

1 reviewed record(s)

Scuba diving (submerged riding a scooter)

1 reviewed record(s)

Scuba Diving for lobster (at surface)

1 reviewed record(s)

Scuba diving in aquarium tank

1 reviewed record(s)

Scurfing (surfboard being towed behind a boat)

1 reviewed record(s)

Sea disaster

1 reviewed record(s)

Sea Disaster

3 reviewed record(s)

Sea Disaster : Wreck of the Carrie E. Long

1 reviewed record(s)

Sea disaster, foundering of the cargo vessle M/V Dorolonda

1 reviewed record(s)

Sea disaster, wreck of the Alfred Watts

1 reviewed record(s)

Sea disaster, wreck of the sloop Sara

1 reviewed record(s)

Seine netting

1 reviewed record(s)

Shark diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Shark fishing on the Don Agustín-VI.

1 reviewed record(s)

Shark handling and angling

1 reviewed record(s)

Shark tagging

1 reviewed record(s)

Shark-tank expedition / swimming

1 reviewed record(s)

Shell diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Ship Mariston torpedoed & sunk

1 reviewed record(s)

Shipwreck / people in the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Shipwrecked; adrift on raft for 2 days & 2 nights

1 reviewed record(s)

Sight-seeing

1 reviewed record(s)

Sinking of the dredge World Atlas

1 reviewed record(s)

Sitting on surfboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Skin diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Skindiving,

1 reviewed record(s)

Snorkeling

25 reviewed record(s)

Snorkeling at Shark Feeding site

1 reviewed record(s)

Snorkeling on surface

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing

73 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing (but treading water on the surface)

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing (free diving)

2 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing / handling shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing / scuba diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing / Scuba diving (at surface)

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing & holding catch

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing or fishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing with Scuba gear

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearfishing, had fish on his spear

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearing a shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Spearing fish

1 reviewed record(s)

Splashing / wading

1 reviewed record(s)

Sponge diving

3 reviewed record(s)

Standing

6 reviewed record(s)

Standing / fishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Standing / swimming

1 reviewed record(s)

Standing / wading

1 reviewed record(s)

Standing in knee-deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Standing in water with child in her arms

1 reviewed record(s)

Standing on sandbank

1 reviewed record(s)

Standing or swimming in shallow water

1 reviewed record(s)

Standing, gathering oysters

1 reviewed record(s)

Suicide

3 reviewed record(s)

SUP

1 reviewed record(s)

Surf bathing

1 reviewed record(s)

Surf skiing

2 reviewed record(s)

Surf-fishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Surf-skiing

1 reviewed record(s)

Surfing

102 reviewed record(s)

Surfing (lying prone on his board)

1 reviewed record(s)

Surfing / paddling

1 reviewed record(s)

Surfing and board sports

1 reviewed record(s)

Surfing, but treading water

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming

190 reviewed record(s)

Swimming / bathing

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming / Diving

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming / shipwreck

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming / treading water

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming / Wading

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming after a canoe swamped

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming after a cutter capsized

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming after being washed overboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming after boat became disabled

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming after diving overboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming after leaving a yacht

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming along a row of nets

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming alongside the schooner Catherine Wilcox

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming alongside yacht Mexico Fiesta

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming and wading

2 reviewed record(s)

Swimming ashore after launch capsized

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming ashore from fishing boat swamped and sunk by a squall

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming at surface through school of feeding 2.5' to 5’ sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming back from anchored sailboat

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming back to a vessel

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming behind sailboat

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming from camp

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming from shore to anchored sailboat

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming in hip-deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming near canoe

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming near jetty

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming on sandbar adjacent to channel

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming or snorkeling

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming outside fishing net

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming to anchored boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming to shore after a small boat struck submerged coral

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming to shore after boat capsized by a squall

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming to shore from the Medic

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming vigorously

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming with dolphins

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming with motor tube

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming, after falling overboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming, after sailboat capsized

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming, attacked at surf carnival

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming, towing an empty barrel

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming, towing the shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming; deliberately grabbed what was thought to be kelp

1 reviewed record(s)

Swimming. Passer-by, Len Bedford, heard him shriek , saw shark leap from the water & swimmer disappeared

1 reviewed record(s)

Tagging / handling a hooked shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Tagging sharks

1 reviewed record(s)

Technical diving at a wreck

1 reviewed record(s)

The 168-ton Belmore foundered in heavy seas

1 reviewed record(s)

The 2379-ton French steamer La Seyne collied with British steamer Onda & sank in minutes. Passengers jumped overboard expecting to be picked up by Onda’s boats

1 reviewed record(s)

The cutter yacht Cutty Sark sank

1 reviewed record(s)

The schooner Tahitienne foundered in a hurricane

1 reviewed record(s)

Thrown from destroyer when shell hit

1 reviewed record(s)

Traveling by boat

1 reviewed record(s)

Treading water

6 reviewed record(s)

Two canoes with 14 aboard blown to sea in a storm. While adrift for 3 week, one person fell overboard and was killed by a shark

1 reviewed record(s)

Unknown

1 reviewed record(s)

Unknown, their unoccupied yawlboat was recovered

1 reviewed record(s)

USS Hoel DD 533 sunk on 10/24/1944 in the Battle off Samar. 2 crewmen were swimmng alongside a floater net &

1 reviewed record(s)

Vehicle plunged over cliff into the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Vessel capsizing / people in the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Vessel sinking / people in the water

1 reviewed record(s)

Wade Fishing

1 reviewed record(s)

Wading

31 reviewed record(s)

Wading (shrimping)

1 reviewed record(s)

Wading / looking for sand dollars

1 reviewed record(s)

Wading / walking in knee-deep water

1 reviewed record(s)

Wading after stray fish from seine netter’s catch

1 reviewed record(s)

Wakeboarding

1 reviewed record(s)

Walking

1 reviewed record(s)

Washed overboard

1 reviewed record(s)

Washed overboard from the barque Mary Eady

1 reviewed record(s)

Washing

2 reviewed record(s)

Washing hands

1 reviewed record(s)

Watercraft

2 reviewed record(s)

Watercraft / dhow incident

1 reviewed record(s)

Windsurfing

2 reviewed record(s)

Wing Foil Surfing

1 reviewed record(s)

Working on the bridge when he fell into the river

1 reviewed record(s)

Wreck of the 1689-ton Portuguese coaster Angoche

1 reviewed record(s)

Wreck of the Aphrodite

1 reviewed record(s)

Wreck of the schooner Driver

1 reviewed record(s)

Wreck of the tug Magellan

1 reviewed record(s)

Wreck of the USS Somers

1 reviewed record(s)

Yacht Trashman capsized in storm

1 reviewed record(s)

Yacht/craft capsized

1 reviewed record(s)