List of fatal shark attacks in Réunion


This is a list of fatal shark attacks in Réunion. Reunion is an overseas department and region of France and an island in the Indian Ocean with over 207 km of coastline and hundreds of public and private beaches.
As of late 2018 there have been 27 fatal attacks and 56 total attacks since 1913. The island was the locale for over 16% of the world's fatal attacks from 2011 to 2016. The reason for the frequency of fatal attacks has to do with the island's tropical location. The island is situated in a so-called "shark highway" between Australia and South Africa, two countries with shark dominated waters. Many large sharks who use this shark highway find Réunion home due to its diverse aquatic ecosystem and coral reefs, offering sharks a thriving home.
A study released in 2015 show Réunion with a staggering 3.15 per one million people would die in a shark attack, the next highest rating was South Africa with 0.76 per one million residents and 0.0013 in the United States.

2000s

1900s

Attack demographics

Fatalities and attacks by species