The International Shark Attack File (est. 1958) is the only scientifically-generated database that documents and monitors shark bites globally. ISAF data access is heavily regulated to maintain the integrity of the data and protect victims and their families according to state and federal privacy laws. Only qualified academic scientists and physicians conducting approved research projects will be granted access to the ISAF database.

Please use the form below to describe your proposed work using ISAF data. ISAF and Florida Museum admins will evaluate requests. Review processing times vary, but decisions should be sent within a month of submission. Approved projects requesting HIPAA-protected information will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Investigations are generally ongoing. Final classifications of incidents and species involved are not determined for some time to allow for investigation of all information. Therefore, ISAF generally does not release bite numbers for incidents in the current year.

Thank you for your request.