If it weren’t for an unusually empty ocean at the Outer Banks, Haley Withrow might not have known about a recent series of incidents which have been taking place in the waters.
While the media has been reporting a string of shark attacks off the North Carolina cost this summer, Withrow, 20, of St. Albans, hadn’t heard the bad news.
That quickly changed.
“When we was down there, there was four shark attacks,” Withrow said. “I’m not really big on the ocean anyways, so I wasn’t going to get in the water, that’s for sure.”
Withrow and her family already had reservations to stay for a week in a beach house. They didn’t want to cancel or change their plans, despite their fears and hesitations.
She could tell people at the beach were nervous, though. She hardly saw anyone in the water except a few surfers.
“It really scared everybody,” she said. “You could tell.”
The Withrows, like some other West Virginia families, chose the Outer Banks as their vacation spot because they felt it’s more family-oriented, it’s cooler in the night time and they see fewer tourists.
This March, Withrow’s grandparents made reservations for a week-long stay in the Outer Banks town of Duck. Would they have booked the stay if they knew what was to come?
Withrow isn’t sure. Her grandparents, who came along for the vacation, watched dutifully over Withrow’s four brothers and sisters, warning them, “Don’t go out too far in the water.”
“The past two years we haven’t gone on a family vacation, but every year before that we would always go to the Outer Banks and generally the same city in Duck,” Withrow said.
She said her family and others go to this part of North Carolina to fish. Officials in the area warn against swimming near a fishing line because the bait in the water can attract a shark.
And despite the rise in shark attacks, officials don’t expect the tourism business to hurt anytime soon.
Lee Nettles is the executive director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau and works to promote tourism in the area. Nettles said the Outer Banks lodging business, which sees about 5 million tourists a year, won’t be affected by the shark attacks.
About 80 percent of the Outer Banks’ lodging business comes from places that require at least week-long stays, according to Nettles.
Most tourists don’t make a spur of the moment decision to vacation in that area like they do other areas along North Carolina’s coast.
“To an extent, we’re insulated from an immediate dip,” Nettles said.
North Carolina State Tourism Director Wil Tuttel said, according to informal surveys with tourism partners in the area, the state has not seen a decline in tourism.
“I think if we see [lodging] cancellations, it’ll be later in the summer,” Tuttel said. “Because of how expensive it is, it would probably be later in the year after people have time to make alternative plans.”
Still, tourism officials like Nettles and Tuttel have received worried calls from people asking about the shark attacks. Officials remind them that shark attacks are isolated incidents and that there are precautions they can take.
Officials suggest beachgoers not swim in the early morning or late night, not swim near a pier or near where someone is fishing, not wear jewelry in the water, and swim in groups rather than alone.
Reach Jake Jarvis at jake.jarvis@wvgazette.com, 304-348-7905 or follow @NewsroomJake on Twitter.
Leave a Reply