In addition to being the hottest year on record, a new report reveals that 2015 also saw a record number of shark attacks - 98 attacks took place throughout the year, leading to six deaths including a snorkeler in Hawaii and two people off the Indian Ocean island of Reunion, according to the Daily Mail. Other deaths were seen in Australia, Egypt and New Caledonia.
As climate change leads to warmer ocean temperatures, sharks are moving farther north in the United States. In one rare incident, a New Yorker was attacked during a boogie boarding session off Long Island. Furthermore, it is likely that the warm water off the North and South Carolina coasts were a big factor in the attacks on two children that took place less than an hour apart, according to The Guardian.
"We're going to be seeing more bites north of Virginia in the east and California in the west in the years ahead as long as this warming trend continues," said George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File, the group that released the report.
Although some worry that sharks are becoming less shy around humans, it is important to note that despite the double in fatal attacks from 2014 to 2015, the number of encounters was roughly equal to the average from the past decade, according to CNN.
"The numerical growth in human-shark interactions does not necessarily mean there is an increase in the rate of shark attacks," the report reads. "It most likely is a function of the growing human population."
"Shark populations are actually declining or holding at greatly reduced levels in many areas of the world as a result of over-fishing and habitat loss, theoretically reducing the opportunity for these shark-human interactions," it adds. "However, year-to-year variability in local meteorological, oceanographic, and socioeconomic conditions also significantly influences the local abundance of sharks and humans in the water and, therefore, the odds of encountering one another."
