TRURO, MASS. (WHDH) - A swimmer in the water off Cape Cod was attacked by a shark late Wednesday afternoon and airlifted to a Boston hospital, officials said.
Emergency crews responding to Longnook Beach for a report of a shark attack about 4:11 p.m. found a person suffering from puncture wounds to the leg and torso, according to the Truro Harbormaster’s Office.
The victim, a 61-year-old man, was standing in the water about 30 yards offshore when he was bitten, a spokesperson for the Cape Cod National Sea Shore said.
The man was taken from the beach by Truro EMS to a helipad in Wellfleet, where he was flown to Tufts Medical Center. His name has not been released.
Truro police say the man was approximately 300 miles south of Longnook Beach within the boundary of the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Thomas Buckett, of Rhode Island, said he and a friend helped pull the man to shore.
“He was on his back about 25 feet from shore. He was yelling, ‘Get me out of the water, get me out of the water … shark, shark,'” Buckett said. “I pulled him out. I went in above my knees and my friend came in and dragged him the rest of the way.”
In a statement, Atlantic White Shark Conservancy CEO Cynthia Wigren stressed that “encounters with white sharks in which people suffer injuries are as terrifying as they are rare.”
“While we still don’t know all of the details of this particular bite, sharks are not known to target people specifically and when they do bite people it’s usually a case of mistaken identity,” the statement read. “Sharks ‘test the waters’ with their teeth, much like we use our hands. It is how they determine if what they encounter is prey or something to avoid.”
The conservancy said it is offering “wishes for a full recovery to the victim of today’s shark bite and convey our sincere sympathy to him and his family” and vowed to remain “committed to making beaches safer by studying shark behavior and sharing what we learn with the public and town officials to help reduce the probability of these kinds of interactions.”
A photo taken at the scene showed about a dozen beachgoers carrying the wounded man up a sand dune before first responders arrived on scene.
Photo shows about a dozen people jumping in to help carry the shark bite victim up the sand dune. #7News Courtesy: Mary Ellen pic.twitter.com/PsSfGm9tUI
— Eric Kane (@EricKaneTV) August 15, 2018
Longnook Beach, which is located on the outer Cape and sits on the Atlantic Ocean, will be closed to swimmers until further notice.
There have been dozens upon dozens of confirmed great white shark sightings off Cape Cod this summer.
The last shark attack on Cape Cod also happened in Truro off Ballston Beach in July 2012.
U.S. National Park Service rangers are investigating the incident.
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