The term
shark attack is used to describe an attack on a human by a
shark. Every year around 75 attacks are reported worldwide. Despite their relative rarity, many people fear shark attacks after occasional serial attacks, such as the
Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, and horror fiction and films such as the
Jaws series. Out of more than 480
shark species, only three are responsible for a double-digit number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the
great white,
tiger, and
bull; however, the
oceanic whitetip has probably killed many more castaways, not recorded in the statistics.