 |
MYRTLE BEACH — Waders,
swimmers, boogie-boarders and surfers all were in the ocean Friday
afternoon in Myrtle Beach a day after four different people took trips
to the hospital for shark bites.
Authorities have not yet
confirmed a shark, or sharks, were to blame. Photos of the four victims
wounds are being sent to the University of Florida for analysis by
researchers, said Capt. David Knipes, with Myrtle Beach.
Several
vacationers, like Ryan Schott, said they had just arrived Friday and
hadn’t heard about the bites. Schott was in the water doing somersaults
and playing Frisbee with friends.
“It’s such a slim chance, I’ll take the risk,” he said. “The water’s perfect, it’s like bath water and it feels good.”
Denny
Starr, a lifeguard, was on duty around 76th Avenue North around 1:20
p.m. Thursday when two bites were reported in his section of the beach.
One person had a bite mark to his foot and the other had a full mouth
print on his calf, Starr said.
The other bites were reported at 72nd Avenue North and 82nd Avenue North, Knipes said.
It’s
not likely the same animal bit all four people, according to marine
science professor and local shark expert Dan Abel. Without seeing
pictures of the bite marks he couldn’t say for sure what kind of shark
it may have been, but he said black tip sharks are most probable in this
instance.
“The likelihood of anything else being around and
biting is not real high,” Abel said. “It could be blue fish bites, but
that’s not really likely. It was probably not one shark and it was
probably black tip sharks inshore feeding and mistaking people.”
Matt
Ottersboch and Chad Trautman, who were visiting Myrtle Beach from
Wyoming, said they weren’t bothered by the reported bites.
“You’re swimming in the ocean,” Ottersboch said. “You run an inherent risk of getting bit by something.”
Trautman
said he would only be concerned if authorities identified the same
shark roaming the waters incessantly, but said the chances of the shark
staying in the same area seemed minimal.
Ocean waters on the north
end of Myrtle Beach were closed for about two hours Thursday starting
around 72nd Avenue North as a precaution while police investigated. In
Myrtle Beach Friday, no closures were reported.
0 comments:
Post a Comment