Saving Seafood

5 shark attack survivors explain how they made it out alive

July 31, 2019 — A 19-year-old surfer who suffered a vicious shark bite last month was determined to face his fears as soon as his wounds healed.

Not only did Austin Reed return to the ocean just over a month after the attack, he went back to the exact site of the harrowing encounter, North Carolina’s Ocean Isle Beach.

“I went back to the spot where I got bit,” Reed told Willie Geist and Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Wednesday. “I thought that was the best way to get closure.”

Reed was one of five shark attack survivors who shared their stories on TODAY Wednesday.

He was joined by Keane Webre-Hayes, who needed 1,000 stitches after being attacked in California while lobster diving; Tiffany Johnson, a mother of three whose right arm was amputated after she was bitten while snorkeling in the Bahamas; Lola Pollina, who was bitten at New York’s Fire Island last year; and Jonathan Hernandez, who was attacked last month while spearfishing in the Bahamas.

Read the full story at Today

Oak Island, North Carolina’s shark attack spate linked to summer heatwave, scientists say

July 18, 2015 — NORTH CAROLINA — Australians have long been accustomed to shark attacks – already this year, there have been 13 recorded across the nation.

But one US state is facing an unprecedented shark threat and scientists believe unseasonably warm weather may be playing a part.

North Carolina has experienced eight attacks since the start of June.

Two of the most serious attacks occurred within 90 minutes of each other in shallow water in the town of Oak Island.

A 12-year-old girl had her arm and part of her leg bitten off.

The other victim, 16-year-old Hunter Treschl, had his arm amputated.

Oak Island’s town manager Tim Holloman said the two attacks were the first recorded in the area since 1853.

“We have had several calls concerned about people who are fishing for sharks from the surf or the piers,” he said.

But the attacks appear to have done little to deter the tourists, who swell Oak Island’s population from 7,500 to about 40,000 a year.

Read the full story at Australian Broadcasting Corporation