New Shark Attacks Reported off Carolina Coasts Make 6 This Month
AVON, N.C., June 27 (UPI) — Two additional shark attacks were reported in the Atlantic Ocean off the Carolinas Friday, authorities said — adding to the fear among vacationers there in the wake of several other attacks this month.
One man sustained leg and lower back injuries when he was attacked off the coast of Avon, N.C., and another was treated for minor injuries after his attack off Hunting Island, S.C. Friday’s incidents follow at least four other shark attacks in the region this month.
On June 14, a 12-year-old girl and 16-year-old boy were attacked in the same locationnear Oak Island, N.C., within an hour of each other — and both lost part of an arm, officials said. The type of shark or sharks involved in the attacks were not specified.
Shark attacks are somewhat common along coastal areas between May and September, particularly because the number of swimmers rises sharply in the summer months. Many times, experts say, humans are attacked in shallow water, measuring five feet deep or less, close to the shoreline.
Humans aren’t typically targeted by sharks, but swimmers — particularly surfers — are often mistaken for animals that they do prey on in their natural marine habitat, such as seals.
Earlier this month, a group of boaters off the coast of New York captured startling footage of a great white shark feasting on the carcass of a dead whale — which, much like the famous 1975 horror film Jaws, only tends to add to some people’s fear of sharks.
Despite numerous reported shark attacks in the United States every year, few people are ever killed by the animals. Of all the reported attacks in the last calendar year, 65 percent involved surfers or wakeboarders and 32 percent involved swimmers, Time magazine reported.
