RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Are you headed to the beach soon, and worried about the spike in shark attacks off the coast? Many of our viewers reached out to 8News after the sixth shark attack in North Carolina in just two weeks.
The two most recent attacks happened this past weekend at the Outer Banks. One near the Avon Pier, the other just miles away near Rodanthe Pier.
“Makes me want to keep him out of the water,” said worried mother Maria Mays.
Mays says they vacation every year to the Barrier Islands of the Outer Banks.
“He is not going to be boogie boarding this year,” said Mays
She has already witnessed firsthand this year just how many sharks seem to be lurking in the murky water below.
“We caught like 10-15 sharks,” said her son Landon Craft as he recalled their fishing trip from earlier this summer.
Experts say there are a few things you can do to lessen your chance of becoming bait for a hungry shark:
- Don’t swim where people are fishing.
- Don’t swim around piers.
- Stay out of the ocean at dawn and dusk, those are sharks active feeding times.
- Don’t wear shiny jewelry or clothing in the water.
- Make sure you don’t have any open wounds as a shark will be attracted to the slightest bit of blood in the water.
Thankfully, none of the attacks off of the North Carolina coast have been fatal, however some of the victims have lost limbs.
