There are two tiny islands (Mauritius and Réunion) very close to one another in the Indian Ocean and one of them, Réunion, suffered 16% of the world’s fatal shark attacks between 2011-16 while the other doesn’t have any trouble with sharks even though both are on a “shark highway”.
For anyone that’s interested, a number of reasons have been suggested e.g. muddy waters around Réunion attracting sharks more likely to attack humans (bull & tiger), hunting sharks being banned in Réunion but not in Mauritius, overfishing drawing sharks closer to land in search of food.
Probably the most interesting reason to me is that because Réunion is geologically younger, as a volcanic island the rise to its shores is steeper rather than a long plain of shallows. That makes it easier for the bull/tiger sharks to get there as they are more comfortable in deep water.
For anyone that’s interested, a number of reasons have been suggested e.g. muddy waters around Réunion attracting sharks more likely to attack humans (bull & tiger), hunting sharks being banned in Réunion but not in Mauritius, overfishing drawing sharks closer to land in search of food.
Probably the most interesting reason to me is that because Réunion is geologically younger, as a volcanic island the rise to its shores is steeper rather than a long plain of shallows. That makes it easier for the bull/tiger sharks to get there as they are more comfortable in deep water.
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