Q&A: Afraid of sharks? Flu, asteroids pose far greater risk

BOSTON (AP) — You might want a bigger boat, but you probably don’t need better odds.

The confirmed return of great white sharks to Cape Cod has rattled some boaters and beachgoers. Yet the chances of an encounter involving a human are infinitesimally small, and the likelihood of an attack resulting in serious injury or death is smaller still.

How small? With apologies to “The Hunger Games,” may the odds be ever in your favor — because they are.

In 2016, there were 53 unprovoked shark attacks in the U.S. — none fatal — according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File. Thirty-two were in Florida; 10 in Hawaii; four in California; three in North Carolina; two in South Carolina; and one each in Texas and Oregon. Worldwide, there were 81 confirmed attacks last year, including four deaths.

Statistically, experts say, you’re more likely to be killed by an asteroid than by a shark.

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Full story on from Associated Press WOODTV.com


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