The summer of 2001 was dubbed the Summer of the Shark by American newsmedia outlets capitalizing on a June 2001 bull shark attack that severed the arm of 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast (later surgically reattached) and subsequent shark attacks worldwide. Abrogast's spectacular rescue and survival received extensive coverage in the 24-hour news cycle which was renewed (and then redoubled) with each subsequent report of a shark incident. The so-called ...
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The summer of 2001 was dubbed the Summer of the Shark by American newsmedia outlets capitalizing on a June 2001 bull shark attack that severed the arm of 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast (later surgically reattached) and subsequent shark attacks worldwide. Abrogast's spectacular rescue and survival received extensive coverage in the 24-hour news cycle which was renewed (and then redoubled) with each subsequent report of a shark incident. The so-called "epidemic" of shark attacks became the top news story of the summer going into September, and had a cover story on the July 30th issue of Time magazine.
The term "Summer of the Shark" is a misnomer, as shark attacks in the summer of 2001 had actually been down 15% from the previous year worldwide. The sensationalist media coverage had vastly inflated the dangers of shark attacks (you are 250 times more likely to be killed by lightning) and their significance; 47 attacks prior to Jesse Arbogast's that year had received little to no media...
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