A swimmer off the outer banks of North Carolina had to be airlifted to a hospital after the seventh shark attack in the last three weeks.
Hyde County spokesman Sarah Johnson said the victim is a man in his late-50s who suffered wounds to his rib cage, lower leg, hip and both hands.
Witnesses say the man was directly in front of a lifeguard stand when a 6 to 7-foot grey shark attacked him around noon Wednesday. Johnson said the victim was conscious and stable before being flown to the hospital.
The National Park Service said the attack happened in waist deep water about 25 feet from the shore.
The shark attack today is not the only unusual incident on an East Coast beach.
New Jersey officials reported that the deadly Portuguese Man O’ War have washed up on state beaches. The organism, which can grow to be a foot long with tentacles that can reach 165 feet, causes severe pain to humans and if it reaches the lymph nodes can cause shock, interference with heart and lung functions, and death.
An 8-year-old boy has been attacked off the North Carolina coast by a shark, the fourth shark attack in the last two weeks.
The boy was standing in knee-deep water when he was attacked near Surf City, North Carolina. The boy suffered wounds on the lower leg, ankle and heel.
Officials with the city have decided not to warn visitors about the shark bite or tell swimmers to get out of the water. They will increase beach patrols as they do not have an official lifeguarding staff.
“It really comes down to a joint decision on public safety officials, including myself,” Town Manager Larry Bergman said. He said he would have decided to close the beaches “if there was a big hazard, if there was an imminent danger.”
On June 11, a 13-year-old girl was bitten at Ocean Isle Beach. Three days later, two attacks in 90 minutes took place at Oak Island, North Carolina. Both victims, aged 12 and 16, had to have limbs amputated following the attacks.
The Florida Museum of National History (FMNH) told the Christian Science Monitor that sharks usually attack lone swimmers so it’s best to stay in groups. Also they said the scent of blood will draw them so do not go into the water with open cuts.
George Burgess of the FMNH wanted to remind people they have “a better chance of dying from a bee sting, a dog or snake bite, or lightning than from a shark attack.”