Shark Attack In North Carolina Injures 13-Year-Old Girl At Ocean Isle Beach

A 13-year-old girl was injured after a shark attacked her and bit her boogie board in Ocean Isle Beach in North Carolina on Thursday. The species of the shark was not immediately clear, but reports said it was four-foot long.

According to Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Debbie Smith, the attack took place at about 12:40 p.m. near Monroe Street, which is usually monitored by beach patrols. The girl faced lacerations on her right foot, she reportedly said.

“She wobbled out and left the boogie board and it just went at the boogie,” Alexa Whittemore, a witness to the incident, told ABC News affiliate WWAY, adding: “I felt like I needed to warn people but it was surreal. Like it was definitely surreal, and I was like oh my gosh I just hope she has her legs, like I felt so bad for her cause she was so young.”

Another person, who called 911 to report the incident, reportedly said: “It got a-hold of her foot and bit her board in half.”

On Sunday, a 10-year-old boy was bitten by a bull shark as he was wading waist-high water at Cocoa Beach, Florida, with his mother. The boy suffered a severe bite on his calf and was flown to a trauma hospital in Orlando, Q13 Fox News reported. Following the attack, the beach was closed down for an hour.

Last month, a 50-year-old man was killed by a bull shark while swimming off the Pacific Ocean island of Kouare, New Caledonia.

In April, a 65-year-old woman in Hawaii was killed after a shark bit her. She was found by snorkelers about 200 yards from the shore and did not survive despite efforts by paramedics to revive her.