ATLANTA — Two separate shark attacks in one week are usually an abnormal sight along Savannah, Georgia-area beaches. According to experts, the area sees relatively few bites each year. However, a Georgia surf instructor and a Hilton Head Island lifeguard were both bitten there earlier this month.
The Hilton Head Island lifeguard suffered deep cuts to the chest area after being bitten on Aug. 3 but is expected to survive. The operations manager of Shore Beach Services said the lifeguard was checking water conditions when the bite happened. He was taken to a hospital in Savannah, Georgia, with deep wounds to the chest area.
The well-known Georgia surf instructor returned to the water days after being bitten on the leg on July 27. He told the Savannah Morning News that he had paddled to a student who had drifted out too far. Moments after the student rode a wave to the shore, Yamada Atsushi was bitten while sitting on his surfboard.
While the water was too dark to see, researchers suggest the bite came from a young bull shark or a blacktip.
Despite these recent attacks, the number of shark attacks in the U.S. is not on the increase. South Carolina recorded just one unprovoked shark bite last year, and Georgia had none, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.