Let’s face it - the ocean can be a dangerous place. Rip tides, shark attacks, jellyfish stings, stingray stings, oh my! But how common are each of these, actually? Which do we really need to worry about? In this article, we delve into data on the prevalence of different aquatic threats.

Shark Attacks and Encounters

Great White Shark

Although shark encounters are often sensationalized by the media, in reality they are extremely rare.

One of the most reliable sources of shark attack data in the world is The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File. According to their database, there are:

 

Interestingly, a recent drone study by Patrick Rex of the CSULB shark lab shows that juvenile great white sharks are present in the water near surfers on a whopping 97% of days at surveyed Southern Californian beaches. You can see drone footage of these sharks swimming right underneath and by surfers on the CSULB Shark Lab’s instagram

Despite this, attacks are so infrequent in the area as to be practically nonexistent. In 2024, there was 1 shark attack in all of California. It seems that the sharks are basically just ignoring people. It’s also worth noting that a relatively low percentage of shark attacks are fatal. For example, of the 47 recorded shark attacks in 2024, only 4 were fatal (8.5%). So keep all of this in mind come the next shark week.

Stingray Stings:

Stingrays are primarily found in temperate and tropical waters. There are currently more than 240 known species of stingrays, and they vary quite a bit, from the giant freshwater stingray, which can grow up to 7 feet in diameter, to the round stingray, which, although only about 6-12 inches in diameter, can still pack a nasty sting with their venomous, serrated barb. The round stingray is the overwhelming source of beachgoer injury in Southern California and Baja California, with their full range extending from Santa Barbara, California, to Panama.

Round Stingray

Stingrays are not aggressive, and generally only sting if stepped on or otherwise physically disturbed. However, because they live in the shallows, and bury themselves to hide from predators and prey, they are frequently stepped on by unwitting beachgoers, and sting in self-defense. The result is an incredibly painful puncture wound from the stingray’s serrated and venomous barb. There is also a significant chance of infection, as well as a chance that a fragment of the barb gets lodged in the wound and has to be removed surgically. A round stingray sting is almost never fatal, but it is definitely bad news. Here’s what one looks like:

Video Credit: Dr. Benjamin Perlman's CSULB STABB Lab

So how common are stingray stings?

Unfortunately, the worldwide data on stingrays is not nearly as well recorded as shark attacks. However, there are some reasonable estimates out there. Dr. Chris Lowe, a world leading expert on sharks and stingrays, shared with NBC7 news that the CSULB Shark lab estimates that there are over 10,000 round stingray stings every summer in Southern California alone.

Recall that in Southern California, there is less than one shark attack per year. So if you go into the water, you are more than 10,000X more likely to be stung by a stingray than attacked by a shark.

This is exactly why we created DragonSkin® stingray-resistant booties—to help protect against beachgoers against this very common, painful, and dangerous problem. Our booties are designed to significantly reduce the risk of being stung, while at the same time being as comfortable and uninhibiting as possible in the water.

Of course, your odds of being stung vary greatly with the region, season, and your behavior in the water:

1. Warmer water and smaller waves increase the chance of being stung significantly. This is because stingrays prefer small surf and smaller temperatures, and move closer to shore under these conditions. In fact, it’s estimated that ~75% of yearly stings occur from June to August. So in the summer in Socal, the chances of being stung may be closer to 30,000X higher than being attacked by a shark.

2. Moreover, certain beaches’ geographies may be more prone to stingray stings.  If you’re at Seal Beach in LA (nicknamed “Ray Bay” for a reason), or the surrounding area during the summer, the multiplier may be even higher than 30,000X.

3. Shark attacks are slightly more common in Florida than California, at ~6.5 attacks/year. Stingray stings are very common in Florida. The exact number of stings is not known, but it is likely in the thousands as well. So in Florida, the chance of a stingray sting is probably closer to 1000X that of a shark attack.

4. Your chances of being stung will also depend significantly on your behavior–how much time you spend in the water, in contact with the ground, whether or not you take safety precautions like doing the stingray shuffle, and wearing stingray-resistant footwear. You can learn more about safe habits around stingrays in our article on How to Avoid Getting Stung by Stingrays.

Rip Currents and Drownings

The three most common causes of beach drownings are rip currents/rip tides, high surf, and sneaker waves.

Rip Currents

A rip current, also sometimes called a rip tide, is a narrow current in the surf zone that moves away from the shore. Fortunately, they are typically relatively narrow, from 50-100 feet wide, so if you find yourself getting sucked out to sea, you should swim sideways, parallel to the beach, rather than directly back to shore. After you’ve swum out of the rip current, you’ll notice that you are no longer getting pulled out to sea, and then you’ll be able to swim back to shore much more easily. Unfortunately, the gut reaction that most swimmers have when caught in a rip is the opposite–to fight the current and swim furiously towards shore. Even small rip currents are stronger than any person’s ability to swim, so this can easily lead to exhaustion and drowning.

The best way to avoid rip currents is to learn to recognize them in the first place, and avoid swimming in adjacent areas. Rip currents generally look like a calm area in between the breaking waves. Also choosing a beach with active lifeguard coverage will help immensely as the lifeguards are experts in rip currents and will warn you if you are swimming in one, as well as attempt to rescue you if you are caught in one.

Sneaker Waves

Sneaker waves (also sometimes called sleeper waves) are waves that suddenly and unexpectedly come much farther into shore. They come seemingly out of nowhere, and can be strong enough to knock people over, suck people into the ocean, and carry around heavy and dangerous debris like logs and rocks.

Sneaker waves are far less common than rip currents, but harder to avoid because of their unexpected and sudden occurrence. The best ways to avoid them are:

• Be aware ahead of time if sneaker waves are common at your beach, as they are significantly more common in some geographical areas than others. Pay attention to the signage at the beach to see if there are warnings about sneaker waves. Talk to the lifeguards if you are unsure

• Be careful and deliberate about where you set up to sit on the beach, especially in areas where sneaker waves are more common

• Sit farther away from the ocean than you think is necessary

• Avoid setting up next to large and potentially dangerous objects like logs, rocks, etc.

• Keep an eye on the water at all times, so that if a sneaker wave does come, you will at least see it coming

How common are drownings at the beach?

There are two sources of ocean drownings in the United States with significant data:

• ArcGIS has registered 1143 drownings at US beaches since 2010, for an average of 75 drownings/year, with:

• 81% due to rip currents

• 12% from high surf

• 2% from sneaker waves

• 5% other causes

• The national weather service has also compiled data on surf-zone fatalities in the US in the following years: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2025. The combined data generally match the trends reported by ArcGIS, with an average of 99 deaths/year, with:

• 65% due to rip currents

• 15% from high surf

• 2% from sneaker waves

• 18% other causes

This data indicates that surf-zone drownings are approximately 10X as common as shark attacks in the United States, with rip currents being the overwhelming cause. 

Jellyfish Stings:

Chrysaora Colorata Jellyfish

Just like with sting rays, there are many, many types of jellyfish, and their stings vary accordingly. According to World Atlas, there are over 2,000 known species of jellyfish in the world, although scientists estimate that there could be as many as 300,000 undiscovered. Jellyfish stings typically cause immediate pain and burning, and leave red/brown/purplish track-like marks on the skin. They can also cause itching/swelling around the sting area, may result in tingling/numbness, and in more severe cases, can cause throbbing pain that radiates up a leg or an arm. In extreme cases, stings from species such as the Box Jellyfish and Irukandji Jellyfish can be life-threatening, although these kinds of stings are far less common.

How Common are Jellyfish Stings?

Unfortunately, there is a lack of definitive data out there on the exact prevalence of jellyfish stings. The National Institute of Health, in a Systematic Meta Review on Reports of Aquatic Envenomation compared many papers measuring the percentage of emergency room visits for aquatic envenomations coming from different animal species. In the US, their findings indicate Jellyfish envenomations to be generally less common than stingray stings, but definitely not negligible:

 

 

Source: A systematic review of reports on aquatic envenomation: are there global hot spots and vulnerable populations?

However, the results also indicate that that Jellyfish envenomations may be far, far more common in specific geographic areas, such as:

• The Spanish Mediterranean, with about 26,000 jellyfish stings/year recorded by lifeguards from 2008-2022, making up a staggering 54.5% of reported beach injuries there

• New Zealand, with 1376 jellyfish stings/year from 2007-2012, making up 16.1% of reported beach injuries

There are likely many other jellyfish hotspots around the world, although precise data on injuries is lacking and more research needs to be done. But it’s safe to say that jellyfish are approximately on par with stingrays as one of the most prevalent aquatic threats to beachgoers.

Sunburn

The sun is arguably the most real and prevalent danger at the beach. The National Institute of Health estimated in a study from 2003-2009 that 13.1% of beachgoers are sunburned. In a paper by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center on the economic value of US Beaches, the average number of annual beach visits in the US is estimated at 3.4 Billion. Combining these two statistics, we can estimate that about 450 million sunburns/year occur at beaches in the United States.

Sunburn has been repeatedly shown across many studies to greatly increase the risk of skin cancer. Although skin cancer isn’t always deadly, it can be. The World Cancer Research fund estimates that 59,000 people died from skin cancer worldwide in 2022. It’s difficult to know exactly how much these deaths were contributed to specifically by beach sunburns, but it is safe to say that sunburns at the beach are a far more real and deadly threat than shark attacks.

To avoid skin damage from the sun, it’s paramount to:

1. Look up the UV Index before you go out. The Ultraviolet index is a scale that rates the rate of ultraviolet light reaching the planet’s surface at any given location and time. It ranges from 1 to 10, and it is directly correlated to the rate at which your skin will get sunburned. Most people have probably heard that the risk of sunburn is highest from 10am - 4pm, but they may not realize the extent to which this is true.  In fact, your rate of sun exposure at noon is typically about 5X the rate at 9 am or 5 pm. It’s also about 3X higher overall in the summer than the winter, and about 3X lower when there is significant cloud cover. Here is a chart from wikipedia showing the UV index in New York City at different times of day and year:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet_index#/media/File:UV_Index_NYC.png 

2. Wear long-sleeve clothing, hats, and make full use of beach umbrellas and tents. Most clothing protects you from UV Radiation far better than sunscreen does, and doesn’t need to be reapplied. This is the reason you will almost never be sunburned under your wetsuit.

3. Use sunscreen on any uncovered parts of your body. Just make sure to use a sunscreen that is at least SPF 30, make sure it’s waterproof so it’ll actually stay on, and remember to reapply every couple hours.

Conclusion:

Although ocean dangers are ever present, the media doesn’t always accurately represent the true likelihoods. Being proactive and practicing safe beach habits is always a must.

We created DragonSkin® stingray-resistant booties to help protect against stingray stings and reduce the risk of being stung.