Shark bite reported at Outer Banks comes amid talk of growing shark activity off NC
A 26-year-old surfer from Manteo was “possibly” bitten by a shark off the North Carolina coast on Monday, the National Park Service said in a news release.
His injuries are non-life threatening, rangers said.
Emergency dispatchers received a call around 2:33 p.m. of a man with injuries to his foot “possibly from a shark,” according to the release. He was off Cape Hatteras National Seashore when the incident occurred.
The Virginian-Pilot identified the victim as Samuel Horne, who “was paddling in the surf ... when he was bitten on the foot” off Sudie Payne Road, according to the Associated Press. Horne’s wounds were enough to require stitches, the news outlet reported.
He was taken to the Outer Banks Hospital by Dare County Emergency Medical Services. No other details have been released by the National Park Service.
Officials described it as a possible shark bite because the victim didn’t see what attacked him, Cape Hatteras National Seashore said on Facebook.
Photos of Horne’s injuries were posted on Facebook by Justin Copeland, who was identified as Horne’s cousin by The Virginian-Pilot. “Li’l cuzzo got bit by a shark today!” Copeland said on Facebook. “What’s the chances? We been in the water over 20 years!”
There has been a jump in “shark activity in the surf off Hatteras Island” in the past few days, the Outer Banks news site OBX Today reported Monday.
Professional surfer Brett Barley of Buxton said in a Facebook post that he was surfing in the area at the time of the bite, and a second swimmer “got nibbled but not flesh torn.”
“After all of us got run out by a solid size shark,” Barley posted. “I’ve heard more shark encounter stories from people up and down the island the last 2 days than I ever have in a single year here. Out of control.”
Sharks in the dead of winter are not an uncommon sight off the coast, according to the North Carolina Sea Grant at N.C. State University.
Juvenile dusty sharks are thought to winter off Cape Hatteras, according to the program, and great white sharks are “usually seen” off the coast in the winter.
A study published by the safety tip website SafetyWise ranked North Carolina in the top five for shark attacks last year, McClatchy News previously reported.
There were at least three confirmed shark attacks last year — including a 17-year-old at Atlantic Beach who “lost part of one leg above the knee and some fingers,” according to McClatchy. The girl’s father had to punch the shark repeatedly before it let go, her grandmother said on Facebook at the time.
A 19-year-old at Ocean Isle and an 8-year-old on Bald Head Island were also bitten, McClatchy News reported.
All three survived.
North Carolina has seen 64 unprovoked shark attacks since 1933, according to the International Shark Attack file. Eight of those were in Dare County — where Monday’s bite occurred.
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Shark bite reported at Outer Banks comes amid talk of growing shark activity off NC."
