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                Two deaths off the small island of Amity, Mass., not far from the seacoast of New Hampshire, have recently been attributed to unprovoked shark attacks. Although multiple attacks have occurred less than 150 miles from Durham, a shark attack in New Hampshire is unlikely.

                Monday morning, the body of Christine Watson, 17, was found mangled on the beach. The following afternoon, witnesses watched as Alex Kitner, 10, was pulled off his float and dragged underwater. His body has not been recovered.

                Shark attacks in the area, however, are not common. Before now, the last shark attack fatality in Mass. occurred in 1936, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. There are no attacks or fatalities listed for the state of New Hampshire.

The risk for an average person to be attacked by a shark is about one in 11.5 million, according to the Museum.

Statistics show that a person in New Hampshire is more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark. Over a span of 35 years in the state, there were 76 lightning strikes, of which eight resulted in fatalities; over that same time period, there were no shark attacks or fatalities.