Man reports shark bite on Isle of Palms; hand injured
ISLE OF PALMS — A man told authorities that a shark bit his hand while he was swimming a short distance from beach on Thursday, the Isle of Palms fire chief said.
Officials were called to the scene near 7th Avenue at 11:19 a.m. The 37-year-old told authorities he was swimming in the breaking waves when the 4 1/2- to 5-foot-long shark nipped his hand, Fire Chief Ann Graham said.
"He needed immediate medical attention, but it didn't look like he was going to have any long-term issues," Graham said.
The man is from Columbia and had been vacationing in the area, the fire chief said. He declined to use an ambulance and went to East Cooper Medical Center in a personal vehicle.
Afterward, authorities scanned the beach, but found no reason for concern.
"It was an isolated incident and we hope to keep it that way," Graham said.
Two people suffered suspected shark bites on Isle of Palms on the same afternoon last August.
A 9-year-old boy was bitten on the leg in a public swimming area in the county's public park and a 30-year-old man received a 3-inch gash on his ankle while bodysurfing about four blocks away.
Graham remembered the boy stopping by the fire station with a blue cast shortly after he left the hospital: "He was doing fine, last we heard."
Check Charleston.net later today for more details.
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Comments
JAMJOH (anonymous) says...
They don't call them finger mullet for nothing!
June 27, 2008 at 1:11 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SmooveB (anonymous) says...
"Enter the ocean, enter the foodchain."
I'm 978,267 times more worried about getting hit by some cellphone-toting soccer mom in her MonsterWagonXL while riding my bike over the IOP Connector to the beach.
June 27, 2008 at 1:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
iceman1978 (anonymous) says...
Shark attacks are very rare. Contrary to what people may believe or what the impression that people have from watching movies like Jaws, you're more likely to be involved in a car wreck on your way to the beach than you are to be bitten by a shark. There are more sharks killed by humans each day than humans who have been killed by shark attacks in the past two hundred years.
Don't wear anything shiny or anything that has a reflection when you're in the water. Watches, ankle bracelets, rings, etc. could all be mistaken for the gils of a fish since they're shiny. If you're cut get out of the water immediately. This one goes without saying. Also, don't splash around too much. A shark could often mistake that for prey.
Take it from someone who's surfed almost his whole life. I've never been bitten (Thank God) I worry more about jellyfish than I do sharks. About jellyfish:
Cannonball jellyfish, like the ones you see washing up on the beach right now, are harmless. I would leave them where they are being that the sea turtles will eventually eat them. Sea nettles and sea lice can sting though, and they're often hard to spot.
If you ever see something floating on the top that looks like a pink plastic bag in the shape of a sial, get out of the water immediately. It's likely a Portugese Man-of-War and those can cause anaphylectic shock if you get bitten. The tentacles on those can stretch upwards of fifty feet.
June 27, 2008 at 3:56 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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