--- description: When they do attack, sharks are more likely to beach goers bite in the U.S. than in any other country, as happened in North Carolina. title: North Carolina Shark Attack Shark Week: Here's Where Bites Occur image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb480293c39dcb0e2/698854c4cd6848ccf00a05f2/shark-attacks1.png?branch=production ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # This Graphic Shows Where Sharks Attack Most in the U.S.  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 16, 2015 6:46 PM CUT  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Jun 16, 2015 6:46 PM CUT  Illustration by Heather Jones From the vicious predator portrayed in _Jaws_ to Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, shark attacks occupy a unique place in the public imagination. That fascination was on full display this week when two separate [shark attacks](http://time.com/3921622/north-carolina-shark-attack-witness/ "undefined") in North Carolina spurred a media feeding frenzy. Around the world, shark attacks are rare. But when they do attack, they’re more likely to bite in the United States than in any other country. Around two-thirds of all shark attacks occur in U.S. waters, according to George Burgess, director at the Florida Program for Shark Research. The U.S. is prime territory for human-shark interactions due to the country’s hundreds of thousands of miles of coastline and the American habit of relaxing on the beach, Burgess explained. But no place is a better draw for both sharks and humans within the U.S. than Florida. Beachgoers in the state experienced 28 shark bites in 2014, and there have been 10 already this year, according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida. And if you really want to see where sharks meet humans, head to Volusia County in Florida, home to Daytona Beach. The county had 10 shark bites last year alone. “It’s a good place to be a shark, it’s a good place to be a human,” said Burgess of Florida’s coastline. “As a result, it’s no surprise that Florida would lead the world in shark attacks.” No matter where you go, however, shark attacks are rarely fatal. There’s been just one fatality this year in the U.S. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3922727/shark-attack-graphic/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3922727/shark-attack-graphic/"},"headline":"This Graphic Shows Where Sharks Attack Most in the U.S.","datePublished":"2015-06-16T18:46:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:03:01.678Z","description":"One county in Florida had 10 shark bites last year","url":"https://time.com/3922727/shark-attack-graphic/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb480293c39dcb0e2/698854c4cd6848ccf00a05f2/shark-attacks1.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb480293c39dcb0e2/698854c4cd6848ccf00a05f2/shark-attacks1.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Shark.attacks","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3922727/shark-attack-graphic/","name":"This Graphic Shows Where Sharks Attack Most in the U.S."}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Recent Shark Attacks Could Be Part Of A Trend","description":"A 16-year-old is listed in good condition at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in North Carolina, after he lost his arm in a shark attack at a nearby beach.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/vEqEvg0f/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-06-17T15:38:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/vEqEvg0f.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3922727/shark-attack-graphic/","duration":"PT1M32S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3922727/shark-attack-graphic/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Two Teens Seriously Injured In Separate N.C. 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