Google Earth Community: Australian Shark Attack Collection

UPDATE: OCTOBER 2008

Recent attacks have been added to the collection, and a few changes of location have been made due to local information from the all knowing GE community. Sorry it took so long and thanks to everyone who helped!

A couple of things. Firstly, I have relocated the Fishery Bay 2005 site as requested by Ashley100456. However, I'm still not sure if this is the right spot. GE has no label for this small bay, and I can't seem to find it on any map. The vague info I found also refers to "Fisheries" Bay, so I'm not sure of the official name (or location). Anyone got any ideas?

Secondly, after reading Clifford Heath's comment I went about finding information on the attack on his uncle's mate. Sorry Clifford, but there doesn't seem to be any record of a fatal attack on the Mornington Peninsular in the early 1960's. Is there a chance that your uncle and his friend were competing in the surf carnival in 1956, where a John Wishart was tragically killed by a shark? But just because I can find no reference doesn't mean it didn't happen!

And the Global Shark Attack File link below appears to be dead. Does anyone know where it has gone?

Shark attacks in Australian waters by state. All officially recorded and unprovoked attacks from 1761 to 2008. Placemark information and guidance from the Global Shark Attack File at www.sharkattackfile.net/spreadsheets/GSAF5.xls More recent attack information from online media reports.

All research was done from the little available on the internet, so in most cases I have had to give my best “guesstimate” to the approximate location of the incident, where more detailed information was not available. Corrections and feedback welcome.<br>
I have excluded many recorded shark encounters including near misses, attacks on boats, sharks in aquaria, fishing mishaps, and incidents resulting in superficial injury. The red/blue icon represents fatal attacks, the blue/blue attacks resulting in injury. The three main species responsible for most attacks on humans in Australia are the…

(Great) White Shark (Carcharodon Carcharius)

Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier)

Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas)

Because many more shark attacks have gone unreported, one shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from this collection. Shark encounters are roughly proportional to the number of people in the water, hence the great many recorded incidents around the major cities and towns. Currently, shark attack numbers have, statistically speaking, been increasing. This may be due to incresing numbers of people in the water. Recent attacks in northern NSW are probably related to the rapid development of towns like Byron Bay and Ballina, and we will likely see even more attacks in that area in the future.

Edited by WynRichards (10/20/08 11:01 PM)