VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Shark attacks, ever since the movie Jaws, make people think twice before getting in the water at the beach.
Recent attacks as close to home as Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, where a teen lost her leg, aren’t settling some of those nerves for a lot of people either.
But are shark attacks on the rise? And how likely is it that something like that will happen here in Hampton Roads or on the Outer Banks?
The truth is, shark attacks have been on the rise. In fact, research shows they’ve almost doubled in the last twenty years in most east coast beach communities.
However, the spike is likely a product of development along our coasts.
A bigger population means more people are getting into the water, and that means the likelihood of a shark encounter is greater.
Still, according the Florida Museum of Natural History, home to the International Shark Attack File, person is 30 times more likely to get hit by lighting than bitten by a shark.
Since 1852, there have only been five unprovoked shark attacks around Virginia beaches.
Sightings and attacks do increase a bit when you go further south because of warmer water and more sources of shark food.
But even then, in that same time span there have only been 13 attacks in Currituck, Dare and Hyde counties combined.