N.C. Places Top 4 In Shark Attacks

NORTH CAROLINA -- The state of North Carolina has the fourth highest shark attack rate in the county, according to the International Shark Attack File.

The data, posted on the University of Florida website, shows that 449 shark attacks have been reported in the United States since 2007. Well over half of them occurred in Florida, which took first place with 244 reported shark attacks.

Following Florida are Hawaii and South Carolina, which had 65 and 39 shark attacks, respectively, since 2007.

North Carolina and California each had 33 reported shark attacks since the data collection began. Other states with shark attacks reported were Texas, Oregon, Alabama and Georgia, according to the Shark Attack File.

Only six of U.S. shark attacks were fatal, meaning only about one percent of victims died. Only Florida, Hawaii and California have seen fatal attacks since 2007.

The data also suggests that shark attacks are more consistently frequent in the past few years than they have been in the past.

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