Officials have reported that a shark, believed to be the same one, bit four individuals on July 4th while they were in the waters off the southern coast of Texas.
According to Capt. Chris Dowdy, a Texas Game Warden, South Padre Island has experienced four separate shark bite incidents. One such incident occurred around 11 a.m. on Thursday, when the South Padre Island Police Department received a report of a “severe” shark bite on the leg in the 4100 block of Gulf Boulevard.
According to police officials, the South Padre Island police and fire department first responders immediately provided medical assistance to the person before transferring them to a nearby hospital. However, the authorities did not provide any further information regarding the individual’s condition.
Shortly after the attack, a beachgoer captured footage of a shark swimming near the coast. According to KRGV, the shark has since escaped into open waters and there are no plans to capture it. In a post on X, Katie McMillan shared a video of the shark, which was about 20 feet away from the shore on South Padre Island. The shark had bitten a beachgoer on the thigh, and the victim was taken away on a stretcher by beach EMS.
The U.S. Coast Guard has been notified and is presently carrying out surveillance in the vicinity using drones, boats, and a helicopter. The officials are closely monitoring the waterways to ensure the safety of beachgoers from any further assaults. It is worth noting that shark attacks are infrequent but not entirely uncommon along the Texas coast.
A teenager from Oklahoma was attacked by a shark in Galveston in May. Just recently, on Friday, June 7, two shark attacks occurred in another part of the U.S. coast in Florida on the same day.
According to data from the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File, Texas has recorded 45 unprovoked shark attacks since 1911. In comparison, Florida has seen 928 unprovoked shark attacks, while Hawaii and California have each seen 195.
A recent global study has shown an increase in unprovoked shark attacks and a higher number of fatalities in 2023 compared to the previous year. The International Shark Attack File confirmed 69 unprovoked bites in 2023, which falls within the typical range. However, the number of fatalities is a cause for concern, according to Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research program.