How many African slaves were thrown overboard in route to America?

The exact number is obviously impossible to calculate, but from 1859 until the end of the Civil War and beyond slaves were regularly thrown overboard when pursued by ships of the U.S. Africa Squadron. The penalty for transporting slaves was punishable by death by this time so slave ships would rid themselves of any "cargo" if they were being chased and thought they might be caught. This was somewhat rare because there were very few naval ships compared to slave ships. Sometimes as many as 100 or more would be thrown to their deaths however. Countless other africans were murdered prior to this period also. Slaves were routinely thrown overboard if they became ill because they could compromise the health of the rest of the slaves and crew.