The number of shark attacks has doubled in the past two decades in densely populated coastal regions, according to a new global analysis.

However, scientists emphasised that despite this uptick, dangerous interactions with the predatory fish are still very rare, and are in fact declining in many places.

With around 100 unprovoked attacks taking place every year, someone is more likely to be struck by lightning or win an Oscar than faceoff against a shark.

Most attacks are no more serious than a dog bite, and only around six each year prove fatal.

Instead of sharks becoming more aggressive, the increase in attacks across regions like southern Australia and the US East Coast actually reflects the rise in people taking up residence on coastlines and flocking to beaches.

Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Show all 6 1 /6 Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Scalloped hammerhead shark Scalloped hammerhead shark fins were among those found being sold by an Asian food retailer in the UK. These sharks are endangered, and in parts of the Atlantic Ocean, their populations have declined by over 95% in the past 30 years. Istock/Janos Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Spiny dogfish In the samples of takeaway fish and chips sampled, spiny dogfish made up 90% of those sold under the names huss, rock salmon and rock eel. Doug Costa, NOAA/SBNMS Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Shortfin mako shark Another vulnerable species found in the dried shark fins tested in the British Asian wholefood retailer was the shortfin mako shark. Istock/Alessandro De Maddalena Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Blue shark Blue shark was also found on sale in UK shops. This species is not as vulnerable as the others but is still listed as "Near Threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature Istock/Howard Chen Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Nursehound Around a quarter of the sharks being sold in UK fishmongers were nursehounds, another relatively safe species that is nevertheless classified as near threatened. Mario Antonio Pena Zapatería Endangered sharks being served up in British fish and chip shops Misleading names in fish shops The scientists behind the study investigating the prevalence of endangered shark meat on sale concluded that shops must stop selling these species under "umbrella terms" that hide their true origin. Istock

“As development increases along the coast and in beach communities, more residents and tourists frequent these waters,” said Dr Stephen Midway, a fisheries scientist at Louisiana State University.

“With more people in the water, the chance for a shark attack increases.”

However, he noted that many countries saw attacks drop over the same period, and even where they went up numbers were low.

In Australia for example, the rate of attack was around one in four million people in 1995, and increased to roughly one in two million in 2015.

Dr Midway was inspired to investigate shark attacks around the world after a spate of attacked shocked residents of North Carolina.

He wanted to understand whether the sudden increase in attacks was unusual or – in the wider context – to be expected.

“While shark attacks are often reported in numbers, we factored in the regional human populations to determine the rate of shark attacks worldwide,” said Dr Midway.

The scientists concluded episodes like North Carolina were generally the result of a combination of factors including particularly warm summers, fluctuations in prey numbers and surges in beachgoers.

Sharks are under threat around the world, partly as a result of persecution by humans.

Their fearsome reputation has led authorities in Australia, for example to cull sharks off the coast of Queensland in a bid to reduce attacks.

This method has killed nearly 50,000 sharks since the 1960s, and over the same period numbers of vulnerable species like great whites and hammerheads have dropped by over 90 per cent.

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Study co-author Dr George Burgess of the University of Florida said people had “always demonised sharks”, but the researchers said they wanted their study – published in the journal Plos One – to contribute to “a more scientifically grounded discussion about sharks”.

“We ought to think of the risk of a shark attack like we would think of the risk of a car accident,” said Dr Midway.