June 19, 2015 — LOWELL, Mass. — While news of a shark attack tends to heighten beachgoers’ fear of the ocean predators, swimmers in New England don’t have much to worry about, officials say.

“The chance of incidents with sharks in New England waters is extremely rare,” said Tony LaCasse, a spokesman for the New England Aquarium.

Fears of shark attacks on the East Cost rose this week following an incident in Oak Island, N.C., on Sunday. Two young people were injured in separate shark attacks, both in waist-deep water. A 12-year-old girl lost part of her arm and suffered a leg injury, and a 16-year-old boy lost his arm, according to The Associated Press.

Though an attack makes headlines, people have been injured by sharks New England waters only a handful of times in decades.

Only three people have been injured by a shark in Massachusetts since 1936, according to the International Shark Attack File, the official capacity for collecting such data. The 1936 incident was the state’s only fatal attack, the according to the data, which has been collected since 1837.

Injuries are rare, but sightings can be more common. Last summer shark sightings occurred in coastal areas including Duxbury. From Chatham to Provincetown, there were 19 shark sightings last year, according to Leslie Reynolds, the chief ranger at the Cape Cod National Seashore. In September a shark approached two women in kayaks off the coast of Plymouth. The shark bit one of the kayaks, subsequently knocking the women into the water, state police said in a statement. Neither kayaker was injured.

Read the full story at Lowell Sun News