Lack of history, but still possible

While the recent shark attacks in Amity, Mass. have worried many here in coastal New Hampshire, history and science show that attacks are not likely to occur.

But it is still possible.

Larry Harris, a professor of zoology at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, said that attacks are a possibility, and some larger sharks have been spotted in the waters of our southern neighbors.

"It is always possible that a shark attack could occur and Great White sharks have been seen off Massachusetts beaches as recent as last summer," Harris wrote in an email.

"Several species of large sharks are found in our waters in the summer and summers are getting warmer so they will become more common," Harris wrote. "Blue sharks, Porbeagles, Makos are seen along with Great Whites.  Basking Sharks occur, but they feed on plankton and Dogfish, but they are too small and rather harmless."

However, the history of the area says that a shark attack is unlikely. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, there were zero shark attacks or fatalities from 1959 to 1994.

The museum compared the history of people being struck by lightning in the state to being attacked by a shark on the same page. Eight people were killed by lightening in the same time period as the non-existent shark attacks and fatalities.

Compare New Hampshire's numbers to Florida's - 226 shark attacks and five shark fatalities - and the odds are looking better.

In the 2010 book Sharks of New England, authors Alessandro de Maddalena and Walter Heim - curator of the Italian Great White Shark Data Bank and a volunteer shark-tagger, respectively - try to educate people about New England sharks.

"Only twelve confirmed unprovoked shark attacks have been recorded in New England waters, and only three of them were fatal," the book states. "To date, no unprovoked shark attacks have been reported or authenticated from either New Hampshire or Maine."