Two shark attacks occurred within hours of each other on Monday at a beach in South Carolina, with one grandma sustaining a “serious bite” on her arm.
On August 15, Karren Sites, from Pittsburgh, was on vacation with her family in Myrtle Beach when she was attacked by a shark.
She was waist-deep in water with her eight-year-old grandson Brian, who was enjoying his first full day of vacation.
“I simply felt something bite me, and when I looked down, there was a shark on my arm. I was just in water up to my waist. I continued to push it off my arm till I succeeded,’ Sites told WPDE.
The grandson, who watched the incident from only feet away, claimed he did not see the shark approaching.
The child stated, “I couldn’t even see the shark coming up, but all I saw was the shark leap up and it didn’t even bite all the way, like I saw the movement of the tail go to the side, then she screamed a bit, and as soon as she touched it, it dropped back into the water.”
When she touched it, it immediately dropped into the water. Sites was transported to a nearby hospital, where she got several sutures to treat the gruesome wound.
Based on the form of the wound, Daniel Abel, a professor of marine science at Coastal Carolina University, concluded that it was a shark bite.
Examining the arc of the tooth marks and the damage, it is evident that the victim was bitten by a shark.
‘My condolences to the victim,’ he said, ‘that’s a terrible thing to go through.’
Master Corporal Kevin Larke of the Myrtle Beach Police Department stated that there was a second attack later that day, but no other information was immediately available.
Monday’s ordeals resulted in a ‘serious bite’ to the forearm for one of the two victims, he added.
Abel urged swimmers to be cautious during this time of year, when feeding sharks approach the shoreline.
He advised against swimming at dawn and dusk, when there are less people in the water and some sharks are closer and feeding.
“Avoid swimming near offshore schools of tiny fish. Do not swim near piers where people are fishing.
On June 21, a second shark attack occurred near Myrtle Beach at a private family campsite.
It takes the total number of shark attacks in South Carolina in the past year to four, continuing an upward trend. In 2021, only one shark attack was documented.
Prior to Monday, there have been 116 shark attacks in the state since 1900, or less than one per year.
As of yesterday, there has been 61 shark attacks worldwide in 2022, ten of which were provoked and six of which were deadly.
According to Tracking Sharks, there have been 34 shark attacks in the United States (0 in Hawaii, 19 in Florida, 1 in California, 6 in New York, and 5 in South Carolina), 10 in Australia (1 fatal), and 1 in the United Kingdom (provoked).
Given the vast number of people that swim and surf along the beaches, especially in shark-infested areas, the likelihood of an unprovoked shark attack is quite remote.
According to the International Shark Attack Files of the Florida Museum of Natural History, bicycle accidents are more likely to result in death than shark attacks in the United States.
It is unknown whether the same shark was responsible for Monday’s two shark attacks.
How prevalent are shark attacks in America?
The United States accounts for more than fifty percent of international shark attacks.
And Florida tops the nation with over fifty percent of all attacks.
In the past decade, there have been 236 incidents in the panhandle, but none have been deadly.
The Carolinas are also hotspots, with 32 and 43 assaults respectively in the North and South.
For deadly assaults, you may wish to avoid California and the coast between New York and Maine.
Nonetheless, there have only been four fatal assaults throughout this time span.
Since 2012, 73 individuals have been attacked by sharks and 3 have died on Hawaii’s beaches, despite the state’s reputation for its gorgeous shores.
However, it is essential to put these data in context.
The likelihood of being killed by a shark is 1 in 3,7 million.
You have a greater chance of dying when snapping a selfie or in a cycling accident.
The ocean itself is the worst killer in the seas, with approximately 4,000 Americans drowning annually.
There are great whites, bull sharks, sand tigers, tiger sharks, blacktip sharks, lemon sharks, and hammerheads in the seas around Myrtle Beach.
Although it seemed improbable that it was a great white shark, there had been an increasing number of sightings of them in the vicinity.
Breton, a 13-foot great white shark tagged by OCEARCH and seen around 60 miles off the coast of Myrtle Beach on August 2, according to Nature World News.
It is typical for great white sharks to travel through South Carolina at this time of year due to their seasonal migratory habits, which include swimming from Canada or New England to Florida in the summer and back to Florida in the winter.
This week, a 10-year-old child had his leg amputated below the knee to save his life after being attacked by an 8-foot bull shark while swimming in the Florida Keys.
Jameson Reeder Jr. was attacked by a shark while studying the Looe Key reef around five miles offshore with his mother, father, two brothers, and sister, according to his uncle.
Joshua Reeder stated on Sunday, “They were out on a boat snorkeling along a shallow coral when a tragic occurrence occurred and my nephew Jameson jr. was attacked by what they believe to be an 8-foot Bull Shark on his leg and received a crushing blow below his knee.”
They had to amputate his leg just below the knee in order to preserve his life due to irreparable damage inflicted by the shark. According to them, the shark took the choice and there was nothing they could do to save it,’ Reeder’s tweet said. His life, however, was spared. Thank you Yeshua/Jesus!!!’
Jameson Jr. was taken back aboard the boat with his family before relatives signaled a neighboring boat carrying a nurse at around 4.30 p.m., half an hour after the incident.
And earlier this month, a young kid who was on a lobstering excursion in the Florida Keys was bitten on the lip by a shark.
Fischer Hricko, age 13, was searching for crustaceans with his father when he felt a tap on the back of his thigh. He was pursuing a particularly large species.
A nurse shark was able to leap up and bite the victim in the face. “He suddenly emerged yelling “Mom, mom, shark!” Remove me from here! Get me out of the water!” Rhiannon, the mother of Fischer Hricko, shouted to FOX 35.
“I spotted a large one and I caught it.” On the ascent, while holding the lobster in my hand, I felt a tap on the back of my thigh, and when I turned around, the shark was in my face,’ Fischer recalled.
Drone footage indicates an alarming frequency of shark-human encounters in Florida.
Last week, a drone pilot captured on tape a shark that approached within two feet of entirely unknowing swimmers.
While flying a drone with his brother on Thursday, pilot Robert Russ noticed a seven-foot shark and began curiously following it as it swam along the Daytona Beach oceanfront.
Then, they saw that the shark moved closer and closer to two clueless swimmers waving at the camera.
What is thought to be a blacktip shark approaches the two, but suddenly glides away, leaving the swimmers unaware of any potential danger.
Russ informed Fox35 that they were not alone: “It swam toward many individuals before determining they were not food and went away.”
Since the 1980s, the Florida Museum has documented an increase in shark attacks. It is believed that cleaner coastal waters are partially to blame, as greater fish populations attract larger predators.
Over a third of shark attacks in Florida are caused by ‘Requiem’ sharks, whereas the more dangerous tiger and great white sharks are further down the list. He suddenly emerged shouting, “Mom, mom, shark!” Remove me from here! Get me out of the water!” Rhiannon, the mother of Fischer Hricko, shouted to FOX 35.
“I spotted a large one and I caught it.” On the ascent, while holding the lobster in my hand, I felt a tap on the back of my thigh, and when I turned around, the shark was in my face,’ Fischer recalled.
Drone footage indicates an alarming frequency of shark-human encounters in Florida.
Last week, a drone pilot captured on tape a shark that approached within two feet of entirely unknowing swimmers.
While flying a drone with his brother on Thursday, pilot Robert Russ noticed a seven-foot shark and began curiously following it as it swam along the Daytona Beach oceanfront.
Then, they saw that the shark moved closer and closer to two clueless swimmers waving at the camera.
What is thought to be a blacktip shark approaches the two, but suddenly glides away, leaving the swimmers unaware of any potential danger.
Russ informed Fox35 that they were not alone: “It swam toward many individuals before determining they were not food and went away.”
Since the 1980s, the Florida Museum has documented an increase in shark attacks. It is believed that cleaner coastal waters are partially to blame, as greater fish populations attract larger predators.
Over a third of shark attacks in Florida are caused by ‘Requiem’ sharks, whereas the more dangerous tiger and great white sharks are further down the list.