Discovery's Shark Week Back With a Bite

(NEWSER) - Victims of shark attacks have gathered in Washington to lend a hand to their one-time foes, reports the Washington Post. The survivors plan to lobby senators to pass a bill setting new restrictions on shark fishing in US waters. A third of the world's shark species are now classified as threatened, and their disappearance is playing havoc with ocean ecosystems, advocates argue. More»

New study finds sharks much closer to extinction

(NEWSER) - Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...it probably is. Great White sharks are now even more endangered than tigers, according to a new study. Researchers who tagged and tracked the sharks determined that their numbers have fallen below those of the 3,500 tigers estimated to still exist in the wild, the Telegrap h reports. Their number has dropped an estimated 90% in 20 years. More»

Growing human presence in water will keep encounters rising, scientists say

(NEWSER) - Shark populations are way down, but attacks on humans are up, LiveScience reports. There were 71 shark attacks worldwide in 2007, continuing a four-year upswing, says shark expert George Burgess, although populations of the fish have shrunk 50% during the past 20 years. Even so, as human populations expand rapidly, so does beach-going—and the chance of encounters spikes accordingly. More»

Shark attacks twice before mom yanks her daughter away

(NEWSER) - A Florida teen nearly lost all the holidays of her life when a shark dragged her from her surfboard. Sydney Levy, 15, suddenly slipped from her board as she paddled with her mom in the Atlantic off New Smyrna Beach. When she managed to climb back on, she noticed her right leg was bloody. Then, the shark struck again, and mom went into action. "It was like a scene out of Jaws where the girl is getting sucked under. I said there is no way this thing is going to kill my daughter,” Valeh Levy told WESH-TV . “I grabbed her shoulders and I pulled her up and threw her on the nose of my board.” More»

But no deaths occurred in US: new report

(NEWSER) - Shark attack deaths saw a significant spike last year, reaching their highest number in almost 20 years. None of the deaths, however, occurred in the US, which has seen decreasing shark attack numbers in recent years. A new report tallies 75 shark attacks around the world in 2011, and notes that fatalities reached 16%. That's double the percentage of shark attack deaths in 2010; for the past decade, the fatalities have averaged less than 7%, LiveScience reports. More»