Teen Injured in SIXTH North Carolina Shark Attack In 30 Days

Fact checked
shark Attack - North Carolina
A recent photo taken by a visitor to a North Carolina beach. This photo comes in the middle of a string of unprecedented shark attacks in the state.

A 17 year old boy is officially the sixth shark attack in North Carolina in less than a month.  The boy is in critical condition, with the latest attack happening just 14 miles from the last attack.  Do we have another JAWS on our hand?

According to a report on People.com [1]

The victim, who has not been identified, was swimming at a beach at the Cape Hatteras KOA campground in Rodanthe, in the Outer Banks, according to WGHP [2].

shark Attack - north carolina

He was attacked at about 4 p.m. ET, according to a National Park Service Facebook post Saturday on the Cape Hatteras page [3].

shark Attack - North Carolina
The location of the latest shark attack in North Carolina

The victim was injured on his right calf, buttocks and both hands, according to the National Park Service. Though he was swimming with other people, no one else was reported injured.

The victim was treated at the scene and then airlifted to Norfolk, Virginia, where he reportedly underwent surgery [4] and his condition was upgraded from critical to serious, according to WTKR.

He is the sixth victim of a shark attack in North Carolina this month: a 47-year-old man received numerous injuries from a bite while swimming in Avon on Friday [5]; an 8-year-old boy suffered minor leg and foot injuries after an apparently small shark bite while swimming in Surf City on Wednesday [6]; a 13-year-old girl reportedly suffered non-life-threatening injuries after being bitten while swimming in Ocean Isle Beach on June 11 [7]; and a teen boy and girl were attacked on June 14 in Oak Island [8]. Both lost an arm.

shark Attack - North Carolina
Many are already capitalizing on the string of recent North Carolina shark attacks

Several of these attacks happened in waist-deep water.

shark Attack - North Carolina
People aiding a young girl who was a shark attack victim in North Carolina in the last month.

Sharks have also this week been sighted in Maryland [9] and in South Carolina, where a man’s artery was ruptured after reportedly being bitten Friday in Hunting Island [10].  ‘There are many inherent dangers while swimming in ocean or sound waters. Swimmers are advised to be aware of conditions and their surroundings,’ the NPS said in its Facebook post.

shark Attack - North Carolina

Cape Hatteras later shared a link to tips on how to avoid being attacked [11].

In a separate article from NBC News [12], they report on the incident:

The teen was swimming at a beach on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore near Waves at about 4 p.m. when he was apparently bitten by a shark and injured on his calf, buttocks and both hands, according to a statement [3] from the National Park Service.

The 17-year-old was swimming with friends in about three feet of water about 20 feet offshore when the shark attack occurred, NBC affiliate WITN reported [13]. He was the only person injured.

shark Attack - North Carolina
A recent photo taken by a visitor to a North Carolina beach. This photo comes in the middle of a string of unprecedented shark attacks in the state.

Sources:

[1] http://www.people.com/article/17-year-old-rodanthe-north-carolina-shark-attack

[2] http://myfox8.com/2015/06/27/shark-attack-reported-in-rodanthe-sixth-one-off-nc-coast-in-about-two-weeks/

[3] https://www.facebook.com/CapeHatterasNS/posts/955549914496403

[4] http://wtkr.com/2015/06/27/second-shark-attack-in-two-days-reported-in-outer-banks/

[5] http://www.people.com/article/47-year-old-man-shark-attack-north-carolina

[6] http://www.people.com/article/eight-year-old-attacked-by-shark-north-carolina

[7] http://www.people.com/article/north-carolina-shark-attacks

[8] http://www.people.com/article/north-carolina-shark-attack

[9] http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/hammerhead-shark-spotted-on-ocean-city-shore/2015/06/26/293c7af6-1bd6-11e5-bed8-1093ee58dad0_story.html

[10] http://myfox8.com/2015/06/27/man-attacked-by-shark-off-coast-of-south-carolina/

[11] http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/education/questions/Attack.html#avoid

[12] http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-people-bitten-sharks-two-days-same-stretch-north-carolina-n383156

[13] http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/Possible-shark-attacked-reported-in-Outer-Banks-310348591.html

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.