Sharks feeling the bite

If you think times are tough for us in economic terms at the moment, spare a thought for the sharks, who are having a pretty lean time of it themselves.
According to a story on Reuters, even the sharks are feeling the impact of the global economic slowdown.
It says: Shark attacks on humans dropped worldwide in 2008 to their lowest level in five years, apparently because the recession has curtailed seaside vacations, University of Florida researchers who compile the annual tally have said. They confirmed 59 shark attacks on humans in 2008, down from 71 the previous year and the fewest since 2003.
"I can't help but think that contributing to that reduction may have been the reticence of some people to take holidays and go to the beach for economic reasons," said George Burgess, who directs the International Shark Attack File at the university.
"We noticed similar declines during the recession that followed the events of 2001, despite the fact that human populations continued to rise," he said in a reference to the September 11 attacks.
The number of shark attacks in the United States, which typically accounts for about two-thirds of the global total, dropped to 41 last year from 50 in 2007. Thirty-two were in Florida, which has a higher concentration of sharks because its warm waters are home to species not found in cooler regions.
As in past years, surfers were the victims of most of the world's attacks, 57 percent. Sharks often mistake them for prey.
"The splashing of arms and particularly the kicking of feet at the water's surface where visibility is poor is provocative to sharks," Burgess said.

Actually, on second thoughts, as far as humans are concerned, this might just be one of the big positives to come out of the economic downturn...