Shark encounters along U.S. coasts are making headlines again this summer, but wildlife biologist and Shark Week host Forrest Galante says the vast majority of bites are not attacks by predators hunting humans. Instead, they are cases of mistaken identity, where a shark takes an investigative bite to determine if something is food.
«They say that something like 99% of shark bites are a case of mistaken identity,» Galante told OutKick Outdoors. «You see a flash from a sparkly bit of jewelry or something, and the shark goes, ‘Oh wow, is that food?’ Unfortunately, when a shark asks the question, ‘Is that food?’ they do so by taking an investigative bite.»
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File, researchers confirmed 65 unprovoked shark bites worldwide in 2025, slightly below the 10-year average of 72. Nine of those bites were fatal. The United States recorded 25 unprovoked bites, the most of any country, with Florida leading the nation at 11 reported incidents. Despite the attention these incidents receive, the Florida Museum noted that U.S. shark bite numbers have decreased overall during the past five years.
Galante attributes the perception of more attacks to a combination of factors. Shark populations in places like California and Florida have rebounded due to conservation efforts after decades of overfishing. At the same time, more people are entering the water, and every encounter is captured on cell phones and amplified by media coverage. «Summertime is when sharks like to hunt coastally and come close to the beaches, which is of course where and when we're swimming,» he said. «So when you put all these factors together, that's why we see this spike in shark bites every single summer.»
Recent high-profile incidents have drawn attention. In early June, a Navy base employee was critically injured by a suspected bull shark while swimming near a marina in Panama City, Florida. Days earlier, a child swimming in knee-deep water at WaterColor, Florida, suffered leg wounds, prompting a 5-mile double-red-flag beach closure. Outside the U.S., a 38-year-old man was killed in May after being bitten by a great white shark while swimming at Rottnest Island off Western Australia, and a 34-year-old school teacher was critically injured at a heavily patrolled beach in Sydney in mid-June.
, a privately run shark-safety and journalism site, recorded 30 shark attack bites worldwide in 2026 as of July 5, including seven fatal incidents. Still, Galante emphasized that the risk remains extremely low. «It's nothing to do with the sharks wanting to eat us,» he said. «It's everything to do with this perfect confluence of situations that lead to more interactions in general, and it's a fraction of a percent of those interactions that end up being negative.»
Galante, who has spent years diving with sharks and studying their behavior, noted that sharks lack hands and use their mouths to explore. «They can’t feel it, so that investigative bite can be very, very damaging and, in some cases, fatal,» he said. «Most of the time, we’re not even on the menu. They’re just trying to figure out if we are.»
His upcoming Shark Week special, «Alien Sharks: Untamed America,» premieres July 29 on Discovery. The program follows Galante across the United States in search of strange and little-known shark species, from glow-in-the-dark swell sharks to bonnethead sharks, basking sharks, and sawfish. Tied to America’s 250th anniversary, the special aims to highlight the country’s diverse marine wildlife. «People that live here think that you have to travel to the far reaches of the globe to see cool wildlife,» Galante said. «We have some of the most incredible, most iconic wildlife on the entire planet right here in the United States, none more so than our amazing diversity of sharks and stingrays.»
While appreciating sharks, Galante urged beachgoers to follow basic safety precautions, such as avoiding swimming at dawn or dusk, not wearing shiny jewelry in the water, and staying in groups. He stressed that the ocean comes with inherent risks, but humans are not typical prey. «When you put all these factors together, that's why we see this spike in shark bites every single summer,» he said. «But it's a fraction of a percent of those interactions that end up being negative.»
