Inches below the surface of Florida’s waterways, there’s always something trying to kill you.

It’s one of the things I hate about this job: documenting a person’s demise while they’re out on the water or near it. I’m not making light of this; often, these people begin their day with a plan to interact with the water. Maybe they’re going boating, surfing, fishing or scuba diving. Usually the activity begins smoothly, then suddenly, with little or no warning, everything goes horribly wrong.

The International Shark Attack File annually compiles and reports one such life changing event. Early each February, the scientists release their findings on shark bites around the world. Sharks are just one problem facing those who venture into Florida’s waters.

Are sharks hunting humans?

Let’s start with sharks. How do we define these menacing predators of the seas? Is a shark an indiscriminate killer as portrayed in movies or nature’s removal machine for the sick, weak and injured?

Occasionally, the shark may deliver a harmful bite to its victims — human and other. The resulting chomp is certainly terrifying, bloody and requires stitches and scars. Depending upon location, size and species of shark, where it is on a person’s body and when the bite occurs, it can be life-altering, even life-ending.

I’m sympathetic to the victims and their families who suffer loss and injury from any of these incidents. Here, I’ll break down potential threats facing all 21 million Florida residents and 137 million annual visitors. Spoiler alert, Sunshine Staters, sharks are the least of your problems.

Two things need to be remembered with sharks: First, they are not hunting humans; they usually are after fish or scavenging other sea creatures. Second, the bite is often unprovoked; most commonly a surfer, a swimmer at the beach and on very rare occasions, a diver. Occasionally, the bite is provoked when a fisherman is trying to unhook a caught shark or handle it before releasing.

TCPalm has maintained a shark attack database. It includes the two sad fatalities that happened along our shores in 1998 and 2010. See it at data.tcpalm.com/treasure-coast-shark-attacks.

What do the numbers show?

Sharks aren’t the only dangers lurking in and near Florida waters. Alligators are everywhere. American crocodiles bask along the edges of the Everglades, Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys. Harmful algae blooms are in much of Central Florida’s freshwater and some saltwater. Brain-eating, single-celled amoebae lurk in more lakes and ponds than we know. Rip currents steal lives regularly. Although we know they’re coming, hurricane storm surges can affect us.

However, along the state’s beaches, our biggest fears are, without a doubt, sharks.

To be honest, Florida fatality stats don’t support the shark bite as being the most frequent way to go for residents or visitors. We lose more lives to drownings in backyard pools and boating in state waters. Loss of life from Brightline train strikes where it operates in Florida, frankly, numbers higher than loss of life globally from shark bites. Of course, the biggest risk Floridians take every day is really climbing behind the wheel of one’s car.

Here are common annual fatality statistics in Florida:

Note: Sources vary and most statistics are from 2022, the last whole year available

What is so scary about sharks?

Is it the toothy maw of the shark as it prepares to bite a fish that scares us? Alligators and crocodiles show us their teeth. Does that elicit the same response in us?

Maybe it’s part of our ancient brain that taps into our animal instinct to warn us from becoming food for another predator. When you’re in the water in Florida, there are sharks there. Millions of potential human interactions are possible daily, and yet only a couple dozen are recorded each year. Most of those are classified as minor, although a shark bite is anything but minor to the person who gets bit.

For some, personal fear is powerful enough to keep people from harm’s way. The best way to avoid landing on the shark bite list is to stay on land. The same can be said for avoiding Brightline’s list: Stay off the tracks when a train is coming.

Ed Killer is a columnist who frequently opines on Florida’s outdoors. This is his opinion. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Sharks, Brightline, Covid: Florida residents warned to watch out