Two teens were attacked on the same beach within 90 minutes of each other in North Carolina this weekend. The first victim, a 13-year-old girl, was attacked at approximately 4:15 pm near the Ocean Crest Pier at Oak Island, North Carolina. While responders were still tending to her, a 16-year old boy was attacked at the same beach. Both victims were in critical condition and airlifted to a hospital. When they arrived, each had to have an arm amputated. By Monday morning, they were upgraded to fair condition.
A spokesperson for the town of Oak Island said it’s not typical to shut down their beaches or evacuate the water after shark attacks, while Oak Island Mayor Betty Wallace pointed out that attacks are rare in the popular North Carolina beach town. With a population of about 7,000 residents through most of the year, tourism pushes that number to about 25,000 every summer. Since the Ocean Crest Pier is such a popular place to fish, it’s assumed there was bait in the water that attracted the 7-8 foot shark that attacked the male victim. It’s not certain that the same shark was responsible for both attacks, nor has the species of the shark been confirmed.
“About four or five people are bitten by sharks on North Carolina beaches each year,” said George Burress, an ichthyologist and fisheries biologist with the Florida Museum of Natural History. “The incidents usually involve smaller sharks.” He suspects the attacks were from either a bull or tiger shark, partly because each are rarely turned off by larger prey.
