Woman bitten in rare shark attack on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina

A beachgoer was “likely bitten by a shark” on Hilton Head Island on Monday – a rare shark encounter on the South Carolina coast.

The woman was bitten while swimming in the water at the Sea Pines Resort, a sprawling hotel on the island’s south coast, News 3 reported.

She was able to escape from the water on her own and was bleeding, but had the wound under control.

Fortunately, the “probable shark bite” was not so severe that she had to be taken to the hospital. It is not known whether she went there on her own afterwards.

Lifeguards closed the beach for 30 minutes until they determined the water was safe.

The incident is the first official shark bite on the island this year, but Shore Beach Services said there was “another possible shark bite earlier this year that was not confirmed.”

Shark attacks on Hilton Head are rare but not uncommon.

Last year, on the very same beach, a 60-year-old man was standing waist-deep in water when a shark bit him on the foot, inflicting gruesome but non-life-threatening injuries.

In 2021, a lifeguard was checking water conditions when a shark bit him in the chest. He survived the encounter too.

Shark experts told the Washington Post earlier this month that shark encounters are the “new norm” due to the growing population of the animals’ favorite food.

However, these apex predators do not target humans, and most bites are unintentional and the result of swimmers getting in the way of the animals’ feeding frenzy.