NSW dominates the list of locations with the most shark bites in Australia, accounting for the bulk of the top 13 sites and the three most-prolific beaches for shark encounters.
The data, compiled from the Global Shark Attack File by online comparison site Finder.com.au, shows there have been 295 unprovoked shark attacks - 122 in NSW - since 1990, with 42 fatalities nationally.
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Shark attacks: Australia most dangerous beaches
The Global Shark Attack File shows there have been 295 unprovoked shark attacks, with 42 fatalities nationally, in Australia's beaches since 1990.
Byron Bay has had 12 incidents and two fatalities over the past 26 years - although that tally will nudge to 13 after Monday's encounter left 36 year-old Jade Fitzpatrick with lacerations to his leg.
Ballina, also in far northern NSW, is next most prolific for reported shark incidents, with six people bitten and one fatality, data show. A second death in the data is recorded at Shelly Beach, also at Ballina.
Lennox Head, also in the region, is ranked equal-fifth with three events.
A spate of bites - including three over the past month - has prompted the state government to drop its opposition to the introduction of shark nets. Such mesh has been in place at beaches from Wollongong to Newcastle, including Sydney beaches, during summer months for years, even decades.
Even with the nets, however, Sydney beaches are prominent on the list of shark incident sites.
![Jade Fitzpatrick, the latest victim of a shark bite in Australian waters,speaks to Seven News after he was bitten by a ...](/web/20170106225332im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/9/q/p/r/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs9r1m.png/1477407486083.jpg)
Sydney Harbour is ranked third on the nation's list, with five events, while Bondi Beach came in equal fifth, also with three incidents. None of the eight led to fatalities.
Mona Vale on Sydney's northern beaches made the list, as did Newcastle, which also has shark nets, according to the rankings.
![There has been a spate of shark attacks off the north coast of NSW this year.](/web/20170106225332im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/r/w/o/g/x/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs9r1m.png/1480473118900.jpg)
Most deadly
Only three other states had sites that made it to the list, with Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia leading those with four incidents, including two fatalities.
WA, though, recorded 17 deaths from sharks since 1990, the most among the states and territories, and almost triple the six deaths in NSW over the period, the data shows.
![A shark spotted swimming in the shallows near Lennox Head on October 1.](/web/20170106225332im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/s/9/1/x/5/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gs9r1m.png/1477407486083.jpg)
The precise location of the data entry can impact the clustering of results. For instance, the shark attack file lists a single fatality at Gracetown in WA in 2013.
Media reports, though, usually credit three deaths from sharks in the Gracetown region, including the 2010 death at Cowaramup Bay and the 2004 death at Lefthanders Beach, both nearby.
Among other individual locations among the top 13 sites were Victoria's Bells Beach and South Australia's Middleton Beach, both popular with surfers.
While surfers are often the victims of bites, they are not necessary fans of shark culls or even nets.
Mr Fitzpatrick, the victim of Monday's incident, told Seven News that he "was just happy to be alive" but saw no need for nets.
"They're just going to whack nets up - it feels like a kneejerk reaction [to the recent incidents]," he said, adding that "we don't need to kill s--- to make people feel better."
Mr Fitzpatrick also objected to the use of "by-catch" to describe the animals caught in the shark nets.
"They call it by-catch to make you not feel bad that a dolphin or a whale has tangled in the net and died," he told Channel Seven. "A beautiful marine creature's dead just we want to feel a bit safe."
By number of incidents, Queensland ranks second with 60 events, edging WA with 59.
Victoria recorded 16 shark bites with no fatalities over the past 26 years, while Tasmania had two deaths among the five incidents, the data showed.
According to the Taronga Shark Attack File, the average annual death rate in Australia from sharks over the past century is about 1.3 people.
This tally rises to about 2 during the past five years but the increase should be seen in the context that Australians are now making about 100 million visits to the beach each year, the file notes.
The most recent death from a shark bite in Sydney was almost 54 years ago, when actress Marcia Hathaway was mauled while wading in Middle Harbour.