INJURED – 21 August 2005 – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, US – swimmer

An eight-year-old boy, Jacob Kolessar, was swimming with his grandfather Sunday morning at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, US, when he was bitten on his side and chest by what experts believe to be a small black tip shark.

His aunt, Stephanie Laibinis, told media he was recovering and had received numerous stitches to his side and chest.

According to the press the boy told emergency workers he had seen several small fish swimming near him. Shark experts said the bite was probably unintentional as Black Tip sharks prefer small bait fish which they feed on near the shore. “They don’t have an interest in man as prey.”

The Kolessar family, from Mountain Top, Pennsylvania, was vacationing at the beach.

According to statistics compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History there have been few shark bites in the Carolinas in the past 10 years and no fatal attacks in South Carolina since the 1800s.

Chris Humphrey was attacked by a shark at Holden Beach, North Carolina, in mid-July.

• Meanwhile, a park ranger at Fort Fisher Recreational Area told the press there had been an unconfirmed bite at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, earlier in August.

Source: MyrtleBeachOnline.com