California hit a terrifying milestone last year — the highest recorded annual number of shark-related “incidents” along its iconic coastline.

There were 10 attacks, encounters or other interactions involving sharks reported by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2025, according to new data.

There were three people injured last year. The highest number of shark injuries in the state was seven in 1974.Pieter De Pauw – stock.adobe.com
The unsettling figure beat the state’s previous high established nearly a decade ago: nine in 2017.

One of last year’s encounters was tragically deadly.

Erica Fox, a 55-year-old triathlete, disappeared off the coast of Monterey while swimming with her husband last month — with witnesses saying they later saw a shark with a human body in its mouth.

Jean-Francois Vanreusel, the husband of Erica Fox, gets a hug during a memorial for Fox at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, Calif., on Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025.AP
Her remains were found days later, with her “shark band” — designed to ward off the beasts with electromagnetic force — still on her ankle.

This year got off to a gruesome start, too.

Members of community emergency response team help search for Erica Fox in Pacific Grove, Calif., on Monday, Dec. 22, 2025.AP
Surfer Tommy Civik, 26, was chomped on by a shark about 150 feet from shore, near the beach resort of Gualala on California’s northern coast, Tuesday, although he lived to tell about it.

In more recent years, the California data show there were eight attacks or incidents in 2024, three in 2023 and eight in 2022.

Sand tiger shark from the front view with teeth close-up with other sharks at the background.gillismitch – stock.adobe.com
Still, actual injuries resulting from such encounters are rare.

There were three people injured last year, including Fox’s fatality. The highest number of shark injuries in the state was seven in 1974.