Shark Attack In North Carolina? Surfer Bitten Off Coast As Area Shark Activity Possibly Growing

A National Park Service in North Carolina said Monday that a surfer was “possibly” bitten by a shark off the state's coast.

Samuel Horne, 26, suffered a non-life threatening injury to his foot as a result of the attack. He was paddling out around 2 p.m. on Monday when he was bitten on the foot, said Cape Hatteras National Seashore chief ranger Boone Vandzura.

Dare County Emergency Medical Services arrived shortly after the reported attack and brought Horne to Outer Banks Hospital around 2:30 p.m. He will reportedly require multiple stitches and staples to repair the damage to his right foot.

Photos of the attack were posted on Facebook by Justin Copeland, who identified himself as Horne’s cousin.

“Li’l cuzzo got bit by a shark today!” Copeland wrote. “What’s the chances? We been in the water over 20 years!”

Horne’s attack comes during a reported jump in shark activity off the coast, near Hatteras Island.

Pro-surfer Brett Barley spoke with Outer Banks news site, OBX Today, about the alleged shark activity. He said he was surfing nearby when Horne was bitten, forcing other surfers to get out of the water.

“After all of us got run out by a solid size shark,” Barley said. “I’ve heard more shark encounter stories from people up and down the island the last 2 days than I ever have in a single year here.”

He also said another swimmer “got nibbled” while out but didn’t have their “flesh torn.”