It was the rain that got people out of the water at Wrightsville Beach on Friday morning. Before the scattered showers, several children were jumping waves, and surfers were catching them to ride to shore.
“The clouds will keep more people away from the beach than the sharks,” said Tim Isacco, a visitor from Holly Springs. His children had been in the water all week and were not concerned about sharks, he said.
The first day of the Independence Day holiday weekend saw crowds of vacationers on the beach, soaking up the sun and showing little panic about what lurked in the waters a few feet away, despite two weeks of media reports about sharks biting people swimming in North Carolina waters.
Andrew Costello, a 68-year-old vacationer from Massachusetts who was bitten Wednesday while swimming offshore at Ocracoke Island, was the seventh person bitten on North Carolina beaches since June 11, an unusual number in a state that has averaged three shark bites per year. Costello had injuries to his torso, his left leg, hip and both hands. Earlier in June two youths lost limbs after encountering sharks.
Karen Woomer, also from Holly Springs, said her kids and their friends were aware of the recent shark bites, but that hadn’t stopped them from swimming out on their boogie boards.
“Their chances are higher to get hurt in some other incident,” she said.
Woomer owns a vacation house in Wrightsville Beach and said it is booked solid all summer. No one was canceling because of the sharks, she said.
Some beachgoers did exercise caution.
A little further down the beach, 9-year-old Tyler Jumper from Wilmington said he usually likes surfing and being in the waves, but not since he learned about the sharks. He said he’s only going into the water up to his knees.
“Are we staying out of the water now? Yes,” said Tyler’s mother Jennifer Jumper. “We are just being reminded of what’s out there – more aware. We still love the beach. We live here and aren’t going to stop coming to the beach.”
Private surfing instructor Sean Griffin said he has experienced about one cancellation per day since the shark bites in North Carolina hit national news. He said half of the people canceling their lessons indicated that they are not coming to the beach at all now because of the sharks.
While most have been tourists, Griffin said even some of the local moms aren’t letting their kids take surf lessons now. Griffin has lived in Wrightsville Beach most of his life, has been giving surfing lessons for 13 years and is in the water every day.
He said there are more shark bites than make the news because they are just not as severe. Griffin said his friend’s hand was bitten by a smaller shark near Masonboro Island in March, and the news never traveled past the locals.
“This is something that happens every year. It’s been somewhat abnormal in the intensity of the attacks, but not frequency,” he said. “To be honest, the news companies and media are fueling the fire and making it worse.”
“Sharks aren’t looking to bite people. It’s just poor luck. You’re entering the ocean, you’re choosing to get in with sharks,” Griffin said.
Many of the surfers said they don’t like the term “shark attack” that some in the media use to describe the recent encounters.
Justin Kuperus, a surfer from Wilmington, said the sharks are not biting humans on purpose.
“I compare it to going out in the woods and coming across a bear. You’re going into their territory,” he said while waxing his board off the bed of his truck.
When Kuperus started surfing seven years ago, he thought about sharks more often and jumped at any shadow in the water. Now he’s aware of them and pays attention to where the fishermen are, but he’s not afraid.
“You can’t let it stop you from having fun,” he said.
Some experts say sharks are more likely to gather where people are fishing. Regular fishermen were out as usual on Friday.
William Price has hooked a number of sharks while casting lines for large fish off the end of Johnnie Mercer’s Pier on Wrightsville Beach. He’s fished there every weekend for the past 10 years, considering it his home pier.
Shark fishing and throwing chum – chopped up, bloody fish – are not allowed on Wrightsville Beach. Price said that 95 percent of sharks caught off the pier are caught with live bait. The fishermen said they don’t try to hook sharks, but the sharks are attracted to the same bait as all the other big fish.
The same weekend in June that two people were attacked by sharks at Oak Island, Price said he and fellow pier fishermen caught upward of 30 sharks averaging between 7 and 9 feet long and 150 to 175 pounds.
There have been fewer sharks around in recent days, Price said while fishing for king mackerel. He said he saw three 4-foot dusky sharks last weekend.
Despite the unusual number of shark bites this year, Price said overall it doesn’t seem like he’s encountered more sharks this year than any other year of fishing in North Carolina.
“This year is just a fluke,” added his wife, Michelle Price. “The sharks are always here.”
She blamed commercial net fishing off the North Carolina coast, saying that there is less food for the sharks, causing them to venture closer to shore.
“If North Carolina is worried about losing tourism because of sharks, it should stop commercial net fishing,” she said.
Jeremy Owens, Ocean Rescue captain of Wrightsville Beach, said the lifeguards have a protocol for a shark bite and are prepared to treat any laceration. However, he said the worst cuts he’s seen are from surf board fins and boat propellers.
“We see sharks, dolphins, turtles – they are here every year. It is their environment,” Owens said.
He said people are more likely to get in a car accident on their way to the beach than encounter a shark in the water.
“I would have people be more concerned about rip currents; knowing their swimming ability; and watching their kids instead of worrying about sharks,” Owens said.
Knopf: 919-829-8955
Twitter: @tayknopf
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