REMEMBER GRAYDON POOL IS SHARK FREE
By Women’s Health
June 16, 2015 | 11:13am
If you go to the beach, it’s probably crossed your mind at least once: Shark attacks can happen.
It’s hard not to think about it since they’re in the news every summer. The latest terrifying story is of two teens who were attacked by sharks on Sunday in two separate incidents along the same stretch of beach in North Carolina.
According to the Associated Press, a 12-year-old girl lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy lost his left arm a little more than an hour later. Even scarier, both were in waist-deep water.
The most recent attacks weren’t the only ones the area has seen. A shark bit a 13-year-old girl’s foot a few days before, about 15 miles away.
There were 52 reported shark attacks in the U.S. last year, none of which were fatal, says Andrew Nosal, Ph.D., a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. California, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas are where they happen the most often, he says.
While that number seems low when you think about everyone who hops in the ocean each year, any shark attack is one too many. Should we be worried?
Probably not, says John Carlson, Ph.D., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries shark expert. “While we can’t downplay the tragedies that occurred with these teenagers, we have to emphasize that shark attacks are an extremely rare event,” he says.
Carlson also points out that sharks don’t usually seek out humans and only attack when they confuse us for their natural prey.
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