A well -known legend says: a person’s chance to die after a coconut fall on his head is much higher than being a killed shark. We find out how reasonable this legend is.

If the danger of sharks is obvious, then waiting for troubles from coconuts is somehow unusual, especially if you live in cold latitudes. Nevertheless, the story of the mortality rate of these fruits spread widely around the world, and for some reason 150 victims are often mentioned annually: in test About the causes of death released by the Petersburg city newspaper "Paper", and in publications The Russian division of Discovery Channel that the fear of sharks is exaggerated. The legend did not bypass the mass culture - for example, about the correspondence "competition" of coconuts and sharks They argue The heroes of the series "Kitchen". We tried to figure out how this story appeared and how accurately it describes reality.

Warning sign in Honolulu (USA)

We will immediately reveal the maps: there are no reliable data about how many people in the world die from falling on the head of coconut every year. Therefore, it is quite difficult to conduct a comparison of interest to us. However, this does not mean that such deaths are not documented at all. News about accidents They came At different times from the USA, Vanuatu, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Colombia and Sri Lanka.

In 1984, researcher Peter Barss published article Injuries Due to Falling Coconuts ("Trauma obtained as a result of the fall of coconuts"). In his work, the scientist summed up a four -year observation of one state -papitel in Papua - New Guinea, where nine people with similar damage were received during all this time. All of them survived, but the article mentions the case of death from the fall of Cokos, which happened before the scientist arrives. Later Barss also published work on injuries received by local residents from pigs And Sarganov, because of Fighted skirts And falls from trees. In 2001, for work on coconuts, he received Shnobel Prize.

With sharks, everything is much more understandable - the Florida Museum for decades keeps records All famous attacks. According to researchers, over the past 20 years, five to six people Disabled From the attacks of sharks annually.

It's funny that in 2002 it was the employee of this museum George Burzes in his column for The New York Times wrote: “Every year, falling coconuts kill 150 people around the world, which is 15 times the number of deaths associated with sharks.” Of course, once one of the main specialists on this issue gives such data, it is difficult for them not to believe, and the number 150 quickly entrenched in legend. However, some time later Buresses admittedthat he did not calculate him during some research, but was just quoted by Brent Escott, General Director of the Travel Company Club Direct. Where did this information come from is unknown.

It turns out that we still cannot reliably confirm or refute the verified statement. To make a verdict, statistics are necessary for both deaths - now we have only one of two parts of the proportion. Perhaps if such data is collected in the future, then we will take a different look at some events. For example, how in 2002 the authorities of the Australian state of Queensland, caring for tourists, uprooted Coconut palm trees with beaches, and eight years later, coconuts were preventively knocked down from palm trees In the courtyard of the Gandhi Museum in Mamba, where Barack Obama was supposed to come on an excursion.