A man was taken to the hospital after being bitten by a shark in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
The unidentified man was swimming in the ocean around 27th Avenue North when he was bitten on the foot. He did not see any fish or other aquatic animals when the incident occurred.
Police were called around 10:15 a.m. today and the man was transported to the hospital.
Life guards closed the beach for about 10 minutes after the man limped out of the ocean.
“They said it was just like a small sand shark bit him on his leg,” beachgoer Jordan Cates told Myrtle Beach Online.
“It wasn’t like a serious bite. It was more like a little puncture than anything serious.”
However, Tracking Sharks has received several reports that the mans foot was seriously injured. In addition, it was also stated the shark was around 4 to 5 feet long.*
This is the forty-seventh shark attack bites of 2016.
In June, a 42-year-old man was bitten near 12th avenue south while floating on his back.
Currently there have been a total of forty-six shark attacks bites in 2016. Five of which were fatal. Nineteen reported in the US, with thirteen occurring in Florida. Ten have occurred in Australia, three of which were fatal.
The location has been marked on the 2016 shark attack bites tracking map.
*Tracking sharks has reached out to a family member of the man requesting further details.
I was there when it happened. I was actually in the water taking pictures of my daughter when the bit occurred. I was the first person on the seen, I flagged the lifeguard down and sent a bystander for a clean shirt of some sort to create a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. It was most definitely not a small puncture wound. The mans flesh was hanging off his foot. I’m not sure if his pinky toe was saved or not. It was pretty horrible.
This man actually suffered a lot of damage to his foot, from what I have been told. His foot was “mangled” and he received 32 stitches.
My wife & I were there & she assisted in stopping the bleeding (nurse mode lol)). The bite was definitely worse than described. It was the left foot, and the bite marks circumvented from front of ankle to pinky toe.
I was there. It was mangled.
It was my father that was bitten this morning and I would like to say this is not a puncture wound. We can confirm that this is a small shark bite. We have been told that it might have been a four or five foot shark that caused my father to get stitches.