What is Sharktober and why sharks attack people more often in October
Scientists in Hawaii have confirmed what local surfers and lifeguards have been whispering for years: the Sharktober is not a myth or a tourist scare.
A new study has found a statistically significant spike in shark bite incidents in Hawaiian waters each October. And the scale is impressive: about 20 per cent of all reported bites over 30 years occurred in just one month.
The work was prepared by specialists Shark Lab at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (UH Mānoa) on the basis of data from 1995-2024. The results are published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science.
The researchers call the tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) the main "driver" of the October peak: it accounts for at least 63% of incidents in October. At the same time, the authors emphasise an important detail: the surge seems to be related not to the fact that there are more people in the ocean, but to the seasonal behaviour of the animals themselves.
Professor Karl Mayer, who led the study, notes: yes, October does stand out statistically, but the overall bite risk remains very low. And the aim of the work is not to scare, but to give people an understandable picture of when the odds are slightly higher.
Why "shark October" occurs at all
The authors attribute the seasonality to the reproductive cycle of tiger sharks. According to their data, the peak coincides with the birthing period (parturition), which falls between September and October. The researchers describe two mechanisms that may be operating simultaneously:
Large adult females temporarily become more abundant in coastal waters, including through partial migration from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to the main islands of the archipelago.
Females may be in a worse "energy state" after giving birth and therefore feed more actively, which increases the likelihood of human contact.
This version is supported by independent observation: the peak of tiger shark sightings in ecotourism locations, coinciding with the spawning season, is recorded during the same period.
What advice is given to those who go into the ocean
Researchers urge caution in October, especially for activities considered more risky, such as surfing alone or swimming offshore. However, the emphasis remains the same: it's about a slight increase in probability, not a "month of terror".