This state is once again named the shark attack capital of the world

Swimmers who love the beach in Florida are asked to swim with caution.

That’s because the Sunshine State has once again been named shark attack capital in the United States and the world — for that matter — according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File (ISAF).

Last year, Florida recorded 16 confirmed unprovoked shark bites. That represents 44% of the total cases in America and 23% worldwide. An unprovoked attack is defined as an incident in which a bite occurs by a shark without being provoked by a human.

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The warm and clean waters off the Florida coast has contributed to the influx of sharks. To boot, the ISAF says sharks feed off the many fish that call Florida’s waters home.

One county in particular in Florida — Volusia County, particularly the New Smyrna Beach area on the Atlantic coast — has accounted for more than its share of shark attacks mainly because its waves attract surfers, who often find themselves in the same waters as the feeding sharks.

The ISAF maintains that shark attacks are still very rare.

“When there are more attacks, it often means that more people are spending time in the water—not that sharks have become more dangerous,” according to the ISAF report.