Talk:List of fatal shark attacks in the United States

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Sources and References for this article

There are four general references listed under the References template for which all content can be verified. Plus several entries have additional specific sources of information cited under Notes.--Hokeman 15:36, 29 September 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Humans, the other white meat.Obbop 23:16, 25 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

yeah, but there a little fatty. Trust me. im on the sharks side24.144.137.244 17:45, 4 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Groh attack

The fatal shark attack of Austrian tourist Marcus Groh, 49, which happened on February 25, 2008 should not be included in the list for the following two reasons: (1) It occured about 50 miles off the coast of Ft. Lauderdale in the open ocean. The closest land to the point of the attack is in the Bahamas, not the USA (2) It happened during a dive expedition where the waters were baited to attract sharks; therefore, it was technically not "unprovoked".--Hokeman (talk) 14:30, 29 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fantastic list

This is a great idea for a list and another fine example of what Wikipedia does best. If a comprehensive, referenced lede could be written to a professional standard, I would definitely support this for featured status. Skomorokh 11:28, 31 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Projected attacks?

How can shark attacks be predicted? What's the justification for the bar in the graph? Piano non troppo (talk) 04:46, 29 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

A very good question. The figures charted do not seem to be available on the linked source, so I have tagged that image for original research. If the creator is not around perhaps someone could simply adjust it to reflect reported attacks. This concern was raised by bradplumer on Twitter. --Dhartung | Talk 19:49, 1 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The chart should be removed if it cannot be sourced. john k (talk) 02:40, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I removed it and nominated it for deletion. It was becoming a source of ridicule in the blogosphere and I don't see any backing for it in the source cited. *** Crotalus *** 19:59, 2 September 2009 (UTC)[reply]

J.L. Hanscom's attack

J.L. Hanscom's 1916 attack was provoked, he was making eyes at the shark's best betty in a speakeasy. Wasn't nothing else to be done those days. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.111.178.66 (talk) 22:35, 4 February 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Major revert by User Hokeman

I just conducted a major revert to the last version by Immunize. Two IP editors went to town on this article ---> their content was full of original research, poor grammar, spelling errors, and was highly speculative to dubious. Not a bit of it was sourced. Users Keithh, Metalhead 94 and SoLando made a valiant effort to clean up the mess; however, in my view the best solution was to revert. (I created this article four years ago and have contributed about 70% of the content.) My suggestion to the two IP editors is to put that stuff in Shark attack after careful sourcing.--Hokeman (talk) 01:58, 27 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Michelle Von Emster

I think this entry should be removed as there is sufficient doubt that Michelle Von Emster was indeed the victim of a shark attack. I know there was a legal ruling, but she is listed in the GSAF as "not a shark attack" and the circumstances around her death, as well as her injuries seem to support this. LittleCalamari (talk) 09:56, 28 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I appreciate your thoughts on this topic. I have had the very same thoughts not only with respect to Von Emster, but also Richard Snead and Courtney Marcher. My opinion is, as long as there is some controversy as to what actually happened, leave it in there with the caveat that the controversy should be carefully explained in Comments. The last sentence in the NBC-San Diego article (a reliable and valid reference) states that she was attacked by a great white.--Hokeman (talk) 03:15, 30 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The Courtney Marcher case caught my eye a while back because it seemed a little unusual, but rather than delete it because of the uncertainty surrounding her disappearance I figured I'd expanded it. I tried to be as neutral and cautious as possible, and I think the comments section reflects the authorities' divided opinion as to what happened. I think the same can be said for both the Richard Snead and Michelle von Emster entries, so I would agree with Hokeman that we should probably just leave them in. Still, it wouldn't hurt if the GSAF's conclusions on Ms. von Emster's case were mentioned in the comments section.

98.232.98.159 (talk) 04:20, 24 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Tamara McAllister and Roy Jeffrey Stoddard

If we list McAllister, shouldn't we list Stoddard too? It seems like there's as much evidence that sharks got him too as they did several other subjects on the list who just disappeared. 68.156.95.34 (talk) 08:09, 7 August 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Stop blaming the victims

Most of these entries attempt to explain what the human did "wrong" and why it was their own fault they were attacked. While I agree that anyone going in the open water willingly deserves to be eaten by a shark, we should admit that a human does not need to do anything except be in the wrong place at the wrong time to be attacked by a shark. The most likely cause of most if not all attacks listed here are hungry sharks, not improper swimming technique, wrong color clothing or going in the water while the wind was coming from the wrong direction. No more sympathy for the sharks or the humans. 24.144.45.132 (talk) 01:22, 23 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

pink background

I don't love the pink background since for people that scroll "straight to the list" there's not even an asterisk they can point to to tell them what pink means. Suggestion: where it's pink (today) just add the text "possibly not shark attack" in parantheses next to the name, to make it crystal clear. Comments? Rogerdpack (talk) 17:52, 30 October 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Alec Cook at Waimea, North Shore Oahu

Famous and legendary big wave surfer Alec Cook disappeared while surfing at Waimea on Oahu's North Shore. Of course there is no proof yet that it was a shark attack and no body was found and Coast Guard ended the search. We should keep a lookout for info though.

There have been nonfatal Tiger Shark attacks in the area. Another surfer (interestingly also named Cook) lost a leg at Leftovers Beach while surfing after being bitten by a Tiger shark; he fought back against the shark and then his life was saved by other surfers who used a surfboard leash as a tourniquet to stop the massive blood loss. There have been other encounters on the north shore that are well documented. There are currently "no swimming" signs at all North Shore beaches as of this week. October is pupping time for tiger sharks, and having given birth, tiger sharks are ravenously hungry to regain weight in the month of November in particular. Most tiger attacks occur in the fall and early winter.

Maximilian333 (talk) 17:14, 9 November 2015 (UTC)[reply]

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unprovoked shark attacks

Arent shark attacks always unprovoked? How do you provoke a shark attack? talk crap about it's mom? Spill a drink on its shirt? Do we really need the "unprovoked" qualifier in the heading? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.213.24.11 (talk) 19:50, 24 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed, I thought it was odd too so I moved the page. Sro23 (talk) 04:30, 15 April 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Basking shark attacks in "Prior to 1908" and 1899

I think these may be referring to the same incident. As both mention Japanese fishermen being killed by basking sharks off Monterey, California. The newspaper article referring to the 1899 incident even closes with the statement, "This was the first and last attempt to take the big sharks of Monterey." -User:1morey July 31, 2019 2:12 AM (EST)

Missing entry of September 2022 shark attack

https://nypost.com/2022/09/07/bahamas-shark-attack-victim-identified-as-caroline-diplacido/ Nightpaws1 (talk) 19:16, 18 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]