With its thousands of miles of coastline and millions of surfers – as well as just beach-goers in general – the United States sees more shark-human interaction than any other country in the world. But where do most of the encounters with our finned-friends take place? The International Shark Attack File(ISAF) just released their list of the top shark attack beaches in North America. The list was quite interesting to check out – especially when I read it the morning before paddling out to location #2, The North Shore. You may just want to peep it yourself and see if your local break shows up on the list of the Top 8 Shark-Attack Beaches of North America.

1. New Smyrna Beach, Fla – known as the shark capital of the world, this beach has an abundance of Blacktip, Spinner, and Bull Sharks that like to feed in shallow water. This causes numerous encounters and yet the county keeps it open. Surf at your own risk!

2. North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii – from shark capital of the world to the surf capital of the world, The North Shore of Oahu has a high number of shark encounters and we can bank on reading about a few every season. There’s even a shark encounter dive you can go on when the surf goes flat.

3. Bolinas Beach, Calif. – the general rule of thumb here is: if there are no seals around don’t paddle out. Otherwise give it a go, it looks like a fun wave.

4. Beaches of Brevard County, Fla. – nearly 1/4 of all shark encounters for the whole state of Florida happen in this county. Again, Blacktip, Spinner, and Bulls are the usual suspects and although not as dangerous as Whites, they do get aggressive.

5. Kahana, Maui – the name of this beach stands out pretty clearly as we remember seeing it so frequently in the news, for shark attacks. Seems like almost every year we hear something about a surfer and shark at this beach.

6. West End, Grand Bahamas Island – not much surf here but if you go diving in these beautiful waters make sure you avoid Tiger Beach. Not even the experienced locals will dive there.

7. Stinson Beach, Calif. – another Northern California break makes the list and this is one is actually quite close to Bolinas Beach. A few years ago a surfer was attacked by a 15ft Great White, and while he’s alive to tell the story it did take him 100 + stitches to close the wound.

8. La Paz, Mexico – just another thing to consider when you’re going down to Baja. If you don’t get the infamous Baja shakedown you might have a run in with a shark.

Tags: Sharks

Posted by Shaun on Saturday, April 19th, 2008 in Surfing.

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