MONDAY, Feb. 18 (HealthDay News) -- A new report says the 53
shark attacks in 2012 off the coast of the United States were
the most in more than a decade. The attacks included one
fatality, in California. Meanwhile, seven people died last in
shark attacks worldwide last year, a bit higher than the average
from 2001 to 2010. However, the rise isn't unexpected and it's
not a particular cause for concern, a report author noted. "The
numbers from an international standpoint were on target for the
last couple of years because, in theory, each year we should
have more attacks than the previous year, owing to the rise of
human population from year to year," George Burgess, director of
the International Shark Attack File, said in a University of
Florida news release. "Thus, the shark attack rate is not
increasing even though the number of shark attacks is rising.
Shark attack as a phenomenon is extremely uncommon, considering
the millions of hours humans spend in the water each year." The
shark attack database's repo