AFTER US emergency services started aerial patrols off the coast of North Carolina following a second suspected fatal shark attack, I decided to find out more about the mysteries of the water.
It was the second fatal shark attack off America's east coast in two days -- a boy was killed at Virginia Beach some 217 kilometres (135 miles) further north on Saturday.
Previously a Russian couple had been wading in surf off a beach near Avon, a remote town along North Carolina's Outer Banks barrier islands, when they were attacked.
The International Shark Attack File of the University of Florida has reported 40 known shark attacks worldwide this year, none of which were fatal until now. Of the 40 known attacks, 37 were in the United States and 28 were in Florida waters.
Following this frightening news I decided to find out if shark attacks were on the increase by checking out some information at http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/sharktrust/
The web site has a wealth of information of all kinds of species of sharks ranging from whale sharks to basking sharks.
The site claims that only 50 to 75 people are known to be injured from shark attacks world-wide per year and there hasn't been any shift in statistics to note any increase this year.
The site makes very interesting reading if you are interested in phenomenal predators that have roamed the oceans unchallenged for more then 400 million years.
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