Posted on 07/20/2011 4:34:43 AM PDT by fredhead
A 5-year-old girl was flown to the hospital after she was attacked by a shark Tuesday, according to Hyde County Emergency Services.
Shortly after 5 p.m., emergency crews were called to Ramp 72 on Ocracoke Island for the reported shark bite, a news release said. Bystanders described what appeared to be a shark attacking the girl in the South Point area.
(Excerpt) Read more at hamptonroads.com ...
Must have been a small shark.
just about the time the dinner bell starts ringing for sharks...maybe a bit early, but when the sun is starting to set...not a good time to be in the surf, OBX or anywhere else for that matter...
Look at the baby fish, watch me pet the baby fish, oh damn baby fish has teeth. Poor girl, sorry parents.
Never mix okra and coke.
I don't know which is stranger, dangerous sharks in the surf at Ocracoke or kids in the surf at Ocracoke. There are zero child attractions on the island-no amusement parks, no minigolf, no boardwalk. No clowns. No funnel cake. No fake stuff at all, actually. There's not even a bridge-you have to ride the ferry if you want to get there. It's just an old fishing village with some really cozy watering holes and great sunset views. Like I said, what a nice island!
when I was that age, many, many years ago, my parents had a beach buggy and we would go down Bogue Banks, past Atlantic Beach, NC out on the beach and away from everyone. I loved it. Sand and surf. Sad that this is the only place left that’s not been commercialized. And with the salt water fishing license I can’t even go down to OBX from VA to fish when I want.
My friend just returned from a scuba diving trip there. He brought back a picture of him standing underwater watching a huge shark. Scary!
The last places like that on the Banks are Ocracoke and the north end of Cape Lookout National Seashore. But Ocracoke has been growing and "maturing" since the late nineties. I wish it wouldn't. It hasn't been that long ago (2006) that there was no cell phone service on the island. Now all you see-even on the water-are people fiddling with their Dumbphones and Crackberries.
I assume that little girl's parents were right there with her. I've been pulled out by the undertow quite a few times. I hope a parent wouldn't let a little one play in the surf alone.
I’m headed to Kinnakeet (Avon) third week of August.
When I cross that big, arched bridge over Oregon Inlet onto Hatteras Island, it feels like I’ve left the world behind. Such a sense of remove, even still. Hatteras didn’t get the massive waves of development that Duck, Corolla, etcetera did, it’s still more of a family beach sort of place. Beautiful, too. Wild, chilly surf and seaspray on one side, mirror calm and warm sound on the other.
I like that most of the beach towns on Hatteras are dog friendly, that you can have campfires on the beach, that you can still drive on the beach, and not a condo tower or hotel tower to be seen. Just Hatteras Light south and Bodie Island light north, looming over everything.
just about the time the dinner bell starts ringing for sharks...maybe a bit early, but when the sun is starting to set...not a good time to be in the surf, OBX or anywhere else for that matter...
1700 Eastern is nowhere near "sunset" during the summer months.
A couple of years ago, we cut the motors and sat just a few hundred yards off Emerald Isle enjoying exceptionally calm and quiet seas. Enjoying a few morning Bloody Marys, catching some rays and watching the crowds on the beach. I had my feet up and eyes closed and was just about to nod off when I heard “HOLY CRAP!”
Jumping up to see what was going on, we watched in dropped jaw silence as a 12’ tiger slowly glided by just a few feet off our 10’ transom.
People only hear the reports about the occasional fish that ventures into the surf...
There were reports of dolphins feeding closer to the sounds and sharks spotted coming in feeding of late. From you down to Holden//Oak island
There are still some beaches that the tourists never heard of but they are slowly finding them damnit.
I hope not too, but I don’t know. The surf can be treacherous, especially near inlets and always at ebb tide. I’ve seen any number of bonehead parents ignoring their kids while enjoying the beach or the water. The scariest are the ones that let little kids play with boogie boards and inflatables with no adults close by. I’ve seen this a LOT. A rip current can pull even a good swimmer hundreds of yards out to sea quicker than you can say “boo”. I’ve seen it happen. Even when it turns out well, it kinda ruins your day. FYI, just because a kid does well at the Swim Club does not mean that he can swim by himself in the surf. Surf swimming an advanced skill that takes time and adult strength to master. And even skilled adults get whacked by rip currents. A lifeguard I know spent two hours floating on his back waiting to be picked up by the Coast Guard. He got lucky.
“Never mix okra and coke.”
It’s a Southern thing. Quite tasty really.
Update, more info.
Paper now reports she was swimming in shallow water with a foam board (boogie board) and was bitten in the lower right leg or foot by a 4 - 5 foot shark, according to one witness. Park rangers are still investigating whether it was indeed a shark. Witnesses reported the child’s leg was torn badly.
We’re going to Avon also. My parents are having a reunion of friends at their house in Rodanthe and it just so happened to coincide with our vacation schedule. We’ve never stayed in Avon before but I’m looking forward to NOT having to drive 20 miles to the grocery store. :)
“got that one from a 4 ft baby thresher”
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