HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — Researchers say a teen appears to have suffered a shark bite on South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island.
Linton Suttle tells The Island Packet that he was swimming Thursday near Sea Pines Beach Club when he felt a sharp pain in his foot.
His parents used photos of comparable bites and an exchange with shark researchers to confirm it was a shark bite. The family received an email from George Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, confirming the bite was from a shark.
The North Carolina teen escaped without major injuries but had to use crutches and stay out of the ocean.
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The newspaper says he’s the fourth shark bite victim on Hilton Head this summer.
None of the bites were life-threatening, indicating they were from smaller sharks.