Could the mysterious five shark attacks this week be the result of humans or climate change? Scientists are baffled over the five shark attacks in different countries and some marine scientists are saying the attacks could be the result of warmer waters caused by climate change. Others believe the shark attacks were caused by overfishing or more people swimming.

Headlines this week were full of deadly shark attacks. A British honeymooner was savaged by a shark in the Seychelles before the horrified gaze of his spouse, the second fatal attack in the islands in 15 days.

Another shark attack in Russia mauled a 16 year old boy just a day after a man lost his forearms defending his wife from a shark. A woman vacationing in Puerto Rico was bitten by a shark as she swam in a tourist haunt bay of Vieques.

So far this year there have been six deaths and seven cases of injuries from shark attacks.

"The attention from shark attacks is completely overblown," said Agathe Lefranc, a scientist with a French group, the Association for the Study and Conservation of Salachians (APECS), a category that includes sharks and rays.

Marine biologists have pointed to several causes of the shark attacks which were all in areas not known for aggressive sharks.

Marine biologists say there is little research into the causes of shark attacks but point to several possibilities, all linked to humans themselves.

The number one reason is that humans are venturing into places that previously had no human presence.

"The growth in shark attack numbers does not necessarily mean that there is an increase in the rate of shark attacks," says the International Shark Attack File.

"Rather it most likely is reflective of the ever-increasing amount of time spent in the sea by humans, which increases the odds of interaction between the two affected parties."

Another marine biologist David Jacoby at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth points to local causes for the shark attacks. He said one case that stands out is the five attacks in a week in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The cause was a passing livestock ship that dumped sheep carcasses overboard.

Another reason that hasn't been examined is the impact of overfishing and global warming on shark behavior.

"We know that these animals are opportunistic and they go to where food sources are available, and those resources do move, and they are dependent on currents, nutrient-rich patches," said Jacoby.

"It's not just sharks that do this, but all large pelagic predators are drawn to areas where there is high food availability. But whether this is a case of increased human activity is unclear."