Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?

Animals across taxa have shown behaviors linked to moon phase (or the proxy of lunar illumination), and marine organisms are well-documented to calibrate certain activities with the moon. Few studies have looked at a possible connection between moon phase and shark attacks on humans, and the results...

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Autores principales:	Lindsay A. French, Stephen R. Midway, David H. Evans, George H. Burgess
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	lunar illumination moon phase shark attack beach safety shark behavior Science Q General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cd411f1ac485496cbd0683cfbe4e9d16
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cd411f1ac485496cbd0683cfbe4e9d162021-12-01T23:47:35ZShark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?2296-774510.3389/fmars.2021.745221https://doaj.org/article/cd411f1ac485496cbd0683cfbe4e9d162021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.745221/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745Animals across taxa have shown behaviors linked to moon phase (or the proxy of lunar illumination), and marine organisms are well-documented to calibrate certain activities with the moon. Few studies have looked at a possible connection between moon phase and shark attacks on humans, and the results have been preliminary or lacking relationships. We used nearly 50 years of shark attack data from across the globe to test for a relationship between shark attacks and moon phase. We examined factors of geography, shark species, and outcome of attack. From 12 relationships that we tested (totaling 120 comparisons), we found 12 significant outcomes, of which five were positive (i.e., more attacks than expected) and seven were negative (i.e., fewer attacks than expected). Specifically, all the instances of more shark attacks than expected occurred at lunar illumination >50%, while all the instances of fewer shark attacks than expected occurred at lunar illumination of <50%. The findings presented here provide global evidence that shark attacks may be related to moon phase, and such information could be useful toward evaluating attack risk and developing recommendations for water-based recreational activities.Lindsay A. FrenchLindsay A. FrenchStephen R. MidwayDavid H. EvansGeorge H. BurgessFrontiers Media S.A.articlelunar illuminationmoon phaseshark attackbeach safetyshark behaviorScienceQGeneral. Including nature conservation, geographical distributionQH1-199.5ENFrontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	lunar illumination moon phase shark attack beach safety shark behavior Science Q General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5
spellingShingle	lunar illumination moon phase shark attack beach safety shark behavior Science Q General. Including nature conservation, geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Lindsay A. French Lindsay A. French Stephen R. Midway David H. Evans George H. Burgess Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?
description	Animals across taxa have shown behaviors linked to moon phase (or the proxy of lunar illumination), and marine organisms are well-documented to calibrate certain activities with the moon. Few studies have looked at a possible connection between moon phase and shark attacks on humans, and the results have been preliminary or lacking relationships. We used nearly 50 years of shark attack data from across the globe to test for a relationship between shark attacks and moon phase. We examined factors of geography, shark species, and outcome of attack. From 12 relationships that we tested (totaling 120 comparisons), we found 12 significant outcomes, of which five were positive (i.e., more attacks than expected) and seven were negative (i.e., fewer attacks than expected). Specifically, all the instances of more shark attacks than expected occurred at lunar illumination >50%, while all the instances of fewer shark attacks than expected occurred at lunar illumination of <50%. The findings presented here provide global evidence that shark attacks may be related to moon phase, and such information could be useful toward evaluating attack risk and developing recommendations for water-based recreational activities.
format	article
author	Lindsay A. French Lindsay A. French Stephen R. Midway David H. Evans George H. Burgess
author_facet	Lindsay A. French Lindsay A. French Stephen R. Midway David H. Evans George H. Burgess
author_sort	Lindsay A. French
title	Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?
title_short	Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?
title_full	Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?
title_fullStr	Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?
title_full_unstemmed	Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?
title_sort	shark side of the moon: are shark attacks related to lunar phase?
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cd411f1ac485496cbd0683cfbe4e9d16
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Shark Side of the Moon: Are Shark Attacks Related to Lunar Phase?

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