Shark Attack

Shark bites woman at Atlantic Beach

By Jerry Allegood, Staff Writer

Atlantic Beach - A 30-year-old woman was hospitalized today after a shark bit her on the thigh and foot as she waded in the surf, Atlantic Beach Fire Chief Adam Snyder said.

The woman, who was vacationing from Ohio, was wading in waist-deep water at about 1 p.m. near the Tar Landing Villas, about two miles east of the Atlantic Beach Boardwalk.

Snyder said the woman said she felt something bite against her right thigh. She began kicking at it, and the shark then clamped on her left foot, he said, leaving triangular shaped bite marks.

Judging from the size of the bite marks, he said, the shark is believed to be about five feet long.

Snyder said authorities considered the attack an isolated incident. He called it "a case of mistaken identity," in which the shark bit in murky water.

"We didn't even close the beaches," he said.

He said there were no sightings before or after the incident.

The woman, who he declined to identify, was hospitalized at Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City. Snyder said she was in stable condition. A hospital spokeswoman said the woman is scheduled to be released today.


Staff writer Jerry Allegood can be reached at (252) 752-8411 or jerry.allegood@newsobserver.com.


http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/640090.html

ATLANTIC BEACH, N.C. — In a July 17 story about a shark bite in the waters off Atlantic Beach, The Associated Press reported erroneously the victim's hometown. Atlantic Beach fire officials say she is from Greenville, North Carolina, not Ohio.

http://wral.com/news/state/story/1608231/

Beachgoers Hesitant After Shark Attack

By Shae Crisson


(07/18/07 -- ATLANTIC BEACH) - The first shark attack of the season has some beachgoers along the Carolina coast hesitant to go back into the water.

An Ohio woman was bitten on both legs Tuesday at Atlantic Beach. She was released from the hospital and is on her way home.
Authorities say the woman was attacked. The shark bit one leg and she kicked it with her other foot, and it attacked that foot.

Bloody footprints in the sand show where eyewitnesses helped pull the 30-year-old victim out of the water Tuesday.

One woman recalled the scene.

"A woman on a blanket -- her foot and leg were bleeding," said Meg Newton, eyewitness. "They were getting families out of the water. My daughter ran to the lifeguard to tell them what happened and called 911 to tell them they had to get someone out here."

Emergency crews rushed the woman to the hospital. When she was released, the manager of Tar Landing Condos, where she was staying, said the victim was in pretty good spirits.

Authorities said Tuesday's water conditions were ideal for sharks to be close to the shore. The water was murky.

The attack is the first shark attack at Atlantic Beach in more than a decade, but attacks are common along the N.C. coast.

Eyewitness News accompanied UNC shark experts who tag the creatures for research.

Video from Morehead City just a few years ago shows sharks, just a few feet long. Those who study them up close say they've seen some much bigger.

"Eight to nine feet Tiger Sharks," said Frank Schwartz, UNC shark expert. "Eight footWwhite Sharks -- roughly the largest one was a dusky shark about 14 feet wide. It filled up the whole back of the boat."

Authorities believe the shark that attacked the Ohio woman was about five feet long, based on the bite marks on both of her legs.

Attacks usually happen first thing in the morning or in the afternoon when sharks are feeding. Experts also say attacks are common during a full or dark moon and beachgoers should watch out for cloudy water.

If you are attacked, experts say you should hit the shark on the nose. That will stun the animal and make it think twice while hopefully give you time to get away.

The beach was not closed after Tuesday's attack. Authorities believe the attack was an isolated event.

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?secti ... id=5488407

Shark Attack Along the Crystal Coast

Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007 - 06:23 PM Updated: 06:46 PM

A woman is recovering after being bitten by a 5-foot sharkTo watch video online please click here to download the latest version of the Flash plugin.

A woman is recovering, after a shark attack along the Crystal Coast.

It happened around 12:30 this afternoon near the Tar Landing Villas in Atlantic Beach.

EMS officials say a shark bit a 30 year old woman.

Rescue workers say a woman was wading in the water when she was bitten several times on the right thigh and left foot.

While the warm water and even warmer weather has tourists flocking, the swimming visitor has some folks on edge.

Robert Mackintosh saw it all happen. “She'd been out in the water swimming. She actually came out on her own. It was like a jelly fish or something, but there was blood." Mackintosh helped calm the 30 year old victim down. Atlantic Beach Fire Chief Adam Snyder says he believes the shark that attacked her is only about five feet long - but packed plenty of bite.

Snyder said, "you could actually see the detailed shark imprints of the teeth on her feet. That's what made it obvious for us." Mackintosh said the shark took a pretty good gash out of her leg. “It looked like they might be able to suture it back together in places. Her foot had a lot of lacerations and tooth mark, and there was a lot of blood."

The waters along the Crystal Coast were anything but crystal today. And Chief Snyder says that probably clouded the shark’s judgment.

He says, "it definitely was something of a mistaken identity.

The water is very murky today. The surf is real rough. Again, this is a very isolated case."

Snyder says there's never been a shark attack in the 13 years he's been at Atlantic Beach.

As for the victim, Snyder says she's in stable condition at Carteret General Hospital and doesn't expect that she'll spend the night.

And while the U.S. has the highest number of shark attacks in the world, Australia has the highest number of fatal attacks.


http://www.wnct.com/midatlantic/nct/new ... -0049.html