Experts Reassure Swimmers That Sharks Pose Little Threat Of Attack At Jersey Shore
By Cleve Bryan
VENTNOR CITY, NJ (CBS) – Public safety officials are reassuring visitors to the Jersey Shore that sharks pose little threat of attack even as two people in North Carolina recover from severe injuries.
In Oak Island City, NC on Sunday afternoon a 12-year-old girl lost a hand and a 16-year-old boy lost an arm in attacks that happened within about an hour.
Captain Bill Howarth of the Ventnor City Beach Patrol says that one or two shark sightings a year are typical in city, but they almost never result in any harm.
He says patrols up and down the Jersey Shore instruct lifeguards to watch out for sharks and follow safety protocols when there are sightings.
"If there's any kind of sighting at a certain beach, that beach automatically just blows their whistles and tells the people to come in, you don't go crazy, you just tell them to come out of the water. Then we notify the other beaches just to keep an eye out," says Howarth.
According to statistics collected by the International Shark Attack File at the Florida Museum of Natural History, there are typically 30-50 shark attacks in the U.S. each year with fewer than one fatality on average over the last 10 years.
Ted Heim, who oversees the Atlantic City Aquarium, says that shark attacks are seldom fatal because they usually involve single bites done by accident.
"They call it a bite and bolt where a shark grabs a human and thinks it's a fish or a seal and then realizes it's not what they want to eat and they let go," says Heim.
Experts say the best ways to avoid shark bites are staying out of the water around dusk and swimming in groups.
