Most shark attacks in one year

According to the International Shark Attack File, the year 2015 saw an unprecedented 98 unprovoked shark attacks against humans, from a total of 164 reported incidents. The ISAF is compiled annually by the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, USA, under the auspices of the American Elasmobranch Society.

"Unprovoked attacks" are defined as incidents in which "an attack on a live human occurs in the shark’s natural habitat with no human provocation of the shark". There were 66 incidents not logged as "unprovoked", including 36 provoked attacks, 14 incidents of a shark biting a vessel ("boat attack"), one involving sinking ships or downed aircraft ("air-sea disaster"), one involving post-mortem bites ("scavenge"), and seven that lacked the data needed to confirmed an attack ("insufficient evidence").

The 2015 attacks surpass the previous high of 88 recorded in the year 2000. According to the ISAF, "the numerical growth in human-shark interactions does not necessarily mean there is an increase in the rate of shark attacks; rather, it most likely is a function of the growing human population. The actual rate of attack likely is declining owing to the ever-increasing amount of time spent in the sea by humans."