Silver lining of the recession--shark attacks down
Crossposted to darksumomo
MSNBC: Shark attacks plunge, recession cited
Shark attacks along U.S. coastal waters fell sharply in 2009, according to an annual report released Monday, and the scientist behind the data thinks the reason could have been the weak economy.
"The big story is that the number of attacks in the United States dropped dramatically from 41 in 2008 to 28 in 2009," George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, said in a statement. "Considering there were 50 attacks in 2007, we may have a bit of a trend, but only time will tell."
Florida saw the most attacks among states, as well as the sharpest decline, from 32 in both 2007 and 2008 to 19 in 2009.
"Florida’s population hasn’t gone down," Burgess said, "so I suppose the economy could have had an effect on how many times people can afford to put gas in their cars and go to the beach.”
So, the sharks on land have managed to keep people safer from the sharks in the water by making them too poor to drive to the beach. That's a long way to go for a silver lining.
MSNBC: Shark attacks plunge, recession cited
Shark attacks along U.S. coastal waters fell sharply in 2009, according to an annual report released Monday, and the scientist behind the data thinks the reason could have been the weak economy.
"The big story is that the number of attacks in the United States dropped dramatically from 41 in 2008 to 28 in 2009," George Burgess, director of the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, said in a statement. "Considering there were 50 attacks in 2007, we may have a bit of a trend, but only time will tell."
Florida saw the most attacks among states, as well as the sharpest decline, from 32 in both 2007 and 2008 to 19 in 2009.
"Florida’s population hasn’t gone down," Burgess said, "so I suppose the economy could have had an effect on how many times people can afford to put gas in their cars and go to the beach.”
So, the sharks on land have managed to keep people safer from the sharks in the water by making them too poor to drive to the beach. That's a long way to go for a silver lining.