North Carolina Sees the fifth Shark Attack in Two Weeks

Reports say that a man was hurt and hospitalized after getting attacked by a shark in North Carolina, in the region called Outer Banks, reported The Guardian.  

The 47-year-old man who was in the surf at the time of the incident, suffered from multiple bite wounds on his back and an ambulance was called to the scene. The incident is North Carolina's fifth shark attack within the last two weeks, which is not quite usual.

Recently, two children were attacked by sharks at Oak Island. The first victim was a 13-year-old girl and only 90 minutes later another shark attack took place in the same area. And this time, the victim was a 16-year-old. Both lost limbs due to the attacks. An eight-year-old boy who was also bitten, had more luck as his injuries were not serious.

Every year, on average, only 75 shark attacks are reported worldwide and only few of those are fatal attacks. But this year's four attacks in only two weeks, reminded people of a similar series of events that took place on the Jersey shore almost a century ago.

In the summer of 1916, in just 10 days, shark attacks along the New Jersey shore killed four and left one injured. The experts believe that the increased numbers of humans and sharks in water that summer caused the series of attacks, which are otherwise quite rare on the East Coast of the United States. Scientists think that a heat wave during July 2016, and the polio epidemic attracted an unusually high number of people to the Jersey shore. Also the heat wave is believed to attract higher number of sharks to the shallow waters, which probably increased the likelihood of attacks.

These type of incidents fuel the panic that contributes to the misconception of sharks as more dangerous than they really are. Perhaps, popular culture and the Jaws movie series might have something to do with it as well.