The area surrounding Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island is known to be one of the largest breeding grounds in the world for sharks. Our most common targets for sharks are the Black Tip and Spinner sharks.
The first shark attack was posted on May 12, 2014. The Savannah Morning News reported that a 12-year-old boy surfing at Tybee Island was attacked by what was thought to be a small shark, but that was never officially confirmed. The boy’s wound required hospitalization and 11 stitches. Between 2007 and 2016, there were four non-fatal shark attacks in Georgia.
Georgia reported seven bites between 2000-2019, a 20-year average of 0.35 bites per year. Only four coastal states haven’t reported a shark bite over the past 20 years: Alaska, Connecticut, Maryland and New Hampshire.
Many species of shark are known to come closer to shore during dusk, dawn, and night time hours. Do not swim or surf during these high risk time frames. Sharks are predators first and foremost. They will seek out prey that is isolated more quickly than those that are not.
While sharks were at one time the reigning royalty of the undersea world, they do have several formidable enemies other than man. … The great squid and salt-water crocodile are both fierce shark hunters. The killer whale has been seen to swallow a shark whole.
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