A teenager is recovering from a minor shark bite he received in Hilton Head, South Carolina August 10.
Linton Suttle was pushing his sister on a boogie board near the Sea Pines Beach Club when he decided to dive into the water.
The 13-year-old felt a pain in his left foot and instinctively pulled away.
“I thought maybe it was a seashell but as I turned around to look I saw a shadow swim away and I knew I had just got bit by a shark,” Suttle told the Island Packet. “My first thought was that I wanted to get my sister out of the water.”
The siblings got out of the water and Linton showed the wound to his mother. The nurse practitioner thought that her son may have been injured by a tentacle.
After further research, the family thought the wound could be consistent with a shark bite and emailed photos to the Florida Program for Shark Research.
The bite was confirmed to have been caused by a shark, possibly a black tip or Atlantic sharpnose shark.
“I already knew it was a shark bite,” Linton said. “I was glad he also said it was because now my parents know.”
While the wound was minor, the teenager had to stay out of the water and will be on crutches until the wounds heal.
“Half of an inch to the left and he might have lost a toe,” his mother said. “I am grateful it didn’t do more damage.”
RELATED: What you can do if you come face to face with a shark.
There have been seven other shark bites and one injury from sharks reported in South Carolina this year. Three of which occurred in Hilton Head.
Johnny Simatacolos was swimming in waist deep water off Sea Pines Beach on July 29 when he felt a sharp pain in his foot. The 10-year-old had been bitten on the foot by a small shark.
Olivia Wallhauser was boogie boarding with her family on South Forest Beach June 21, when a wave lifted her feet off the bottom.
The 16-year-old kicked her legs and ended up hitting a shark in its ribs. The shark grabbed Olivia’s right foot and left several puncture wounds.
On June 18, Reagan Readnour was boogie boarding with several family members on Burkes Beach when she was bitten by a shark.
The 14-year-old was in waist-deep water with her feet dangling behind her as she played on her boogie board when a shark grabbed her left thigh and then her left calf.
There have been a total of 67* shark attack bites in 2017, 5 of which were fatal*; 33 were reported in the US, with 21 occurring in Florida** and one in Hawaii.
Nine occurred in Australia, one of which was fatal and one with no injury.
Four unconfirmed worldwide and not included in the total count.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 Sharks Attack Bites Tracking Map.
*Two may be scavenge. **One report may have been outside of Florida waters.
