Shark Attacks/Bites New Smyrna Beach, Volusia County, Fla.

. Runner Up: Hawaii The were 112 incidents of shark-human "contact" in 2007, according to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), released in March 2008 by the Florida Program for Shark Research, a University of Florida organization that tracks shark behavior worldwide. However, only one of those incidents resulted in a human fatality. New Smyrna, an inlet on the eastern coastline of Florida, had the most attacks, with 17 bites recorded.

Pollution Hacks Point Beach, Kent County, Md./ Beachwood Beach West, Ocean County, N.J. According to the National Research Defense Council, an environmental action group, these two beaches had the highest percentage of samples exceeding national health standards in 2006 (they released the data in August 2007). In fact, 60% of the water samples at each location violated public health standards, measured by the amount of disease-causing organisms, also known as pathogens. The most common types of pathogens are those associated with sewage pollution, such as bacteria, viruses and protozoa.

Jellyfish Attacks Northern Australia The coast of Northern Australia serves as a home to chironex fleckeri, also known as the box jellyfish, which has caused 60 deaths in the last 100 years, according the Center for Disease Control, Australia. While fatalities are rare, about 40 people are hospitalized each year in the Northern Territory--a quiet state with just 215,000 residents and over 3,000 miles of coastline--because of the jellyfish. Just last year, a 6-year-old boy died in the Tiwi Islands, north of Darwin. The box jellyfish has rapidly acting venom that can cause cardiac dysfunction (resulting in loss of consciousness), cardiac arrest and death within five minutes of a sting.

 Rip Current Drowning Brevard County, Fla. Runner Up: Volusia County, Fla. In 2007, 10 people drowned in Brevard County due to the rip current alone, according to the United States Life Saving Association. Beaches that reported fatalities included Merritt Island and Coco. That's more than any other county in the U.S. All 10 deaths were surfers exploring waters where lifeguards are not on hand. Volusia County, also on the east coast of Florida, just north of Brevard, came in second with five drownings.

Boating Accidents Florida Runner Up: California Data by county or beach is not available, but according to the U.S. Coast Guard's Boating Safety Division, the state of Florida reported 633 boating accidents and 68 fatalities in 2006, the highest number of any state in the country (2007 data is not yet available). California reported the second highest number of accidents, 569, and 11 fatalities. Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, director of the International Hurricane Research Center & Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University in Miami, says that the clear reason is activity--more people are boating in these two states than anywhere else.

Lightning Florida Runner up: Colorado Florida tops off the list as the most dangerous spot for lightning, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a federal agency focused on the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere. Between 1997 and 2006, there were 71 deaths caused by lightning in Florida, more than any other state. Popular beaches such as New Smyrna and Clearwater are often evacuated and then closed for days because of the threat of lightning. While Colorado came in second with 30 lightning deaths, the secondclosest beach state was Texas, with 25 deaths.