VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. —
Earlier this week 13News Now told you about something in the surf biting a 10-year-old in Sandbridge. It is still unknown what bit the 10-year-old, but experts with the Virginia Aquarium are fairly certain it was a shark bite.
Marine life experts like Robert LaTour say sharks rarely show up along our beaches. Latour is a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. The school has studied and tracked sharks for 50 years and says human-shark interactions in the area are rare and typically a mistake.
“In Virginia, unprovoked shark attacks are extremely rare. There’s been less than 10 in the last 80 to 100 years,” LaTour said.
States like New York have started using drones to track marine life. George Gorman is the Long Island regional director of New York State Parks. He says when someone gets bitten, or even spots a shark, every beach in the area is alerted.
“We developed an e-mail chain to all municipalities and private operators of beaches along the south shore of Long Island from Montauk Point all the way into New York City,” Gorman said.
Both Gorman and LaTour say remembering simple safety guidelines like avoiding swimming at dawn or dusk and not wearing shiny jewelry are keys to having a safe swim in the ocean.
Virginia Beach EMS notes that if you are bitten or attacked by an animal while in the ocean, call 911 and try to find a lifeguard.