Shark attacks off South Padre Island disrupt Fourth of July activities – Houston Public Media
Texas Department of Public Safety
Two people were attacked by sharks in Texas waters on Thursday, adding to a growing number of shark-related incidents this year.
Just one month after a teenager was attacked by a shark in the water off Galveston, two more attacks were reported off South Padre Island on Thursday. The attacks left four people injured. Authorities said two people “encountered” the shark and had minor injuries while the other two were bit by the shark. One of the victims was a man who was transported to the hospital for a severe bite.
Dr. Kesley Banks is a Research Scientist at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M Corpus Christi. She says these encounters are most likely a case of mistaken identity, where the shark thinks humans are fish.
“One of the evidence of this, is there is only one bite and the shark leaves. Sharks don’t have hands, they explore their environment with their mouth,” said Dr. Banks. “They do something called a bump and bite, especially in cloudy water… they look to see this shadow. They see if that shadow is something they’re interested in eating”.
Dr. Banks says sharks are always close to the shore. She says sightings increase when more people get in the water, but a recent study out of Florida may be a clue as to why these attacks happened when they did.
“Sharks can predict a hurricane before us. They’re obviously increasing feeding prior to a hurricane just like we prep before a large meteorological disturbance. Likely it is just a case of mistaken identity during that increase feeding behavior prior to the storm,” said Dr. Banks.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Game Warden says the last time an attack occurred in the South Padre area was five years ago. They believe a single shark about 6 feet long was responsible for Thursday’s attacks after viewing images and talking to witnesses.
