--- title: Despite Manhattan Beach's Great White Shark, Attacks Still Uncommon description: No need to cancel your beach vacation after a Manhattan Beach visitor got bit in the torso by a great white shark. canonical: https://time.com/2960333/shark-attacks-uncommon/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-06T19:32:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-14T08:43:20.000Z article:section: Science og:title: Despite Manhattan Beach's Great White Shark, Attacks Still Uncommon og:description: No need to cancel your beach vacation after a Manhattan Beach visitor got bit in the torso by a great white shark. og:url: https://time.com/2960333/shark-attacks-uncommon/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt460378c8e04aa37c/69869aac1eebf7e6c0371c2c/134573460-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1393 og:image:height: 784 og:image:alt: Great White Shark og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Despite Manhattan Beach's Great White Shark, Attacks Still Uncommon twitter:description: No need to cancel your beach vacation after a Manhattan Beach visitor got bit in the torso by a great white shark. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt460378c8e04aa37c/69869aac1eebf7e6c0371c2c/134573460-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Don't Worry, Shark Attacks Are Still Incredibly Rare > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is TIME's weekly climate and energy newsletter, written by senior correspondent Justin Worland. It connects the energy transition to the decisions reshaping business, technology, policy and markets. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=0097e790-fe84-4e7a-ad7a-0349b5d3e4e4&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Two Teens Seriously Injured In Separate N.C. Shark Attacks [Watch (HLS stream): Two Teens Seriously Injured In Separate N.C. Shark Attacks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ntVdGatX.m3u8) (2:14)  _Published 2015-06-15. Two teenagers were severely injured within 90 minutes of each other in two separate shark attacks in North Carolina. Should beachgoers be worried?_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Updated: Dec 14, 2023 8:43 AM UTCPublished: Jul 6, 2014 7:32 PM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Updated: Dec 14, 2023 8:43 AM UTCPublished: Jul 6, 2014 7:32 PM UTC The grisly [shark attacks](http://time.com/3920903/jaws-oak-island-brunswick-county-two-teens-are-severely-injured-in-shark-attacks-in-n-carolina/) on two teenagers in North Carolina over the weekend may trigger the _Jaws_ theme in nervous beach-goers’ heads, but there’s no need to be afraid of the water — shark attacks are still incredibly uncommon. There have only been 12 people killed by shark attacks between the years 2001 and 2013, and as _National Geographic_ notes in the video above — made after a swimmer’s run-in with a [great white shark](http://time.com/2958852/shark-bites-man-near-southern-california-beach/) at California’s Manhattan Beach in 2014 — you’re much more likely to get injured by your own toilet or a room freshener. ## Transcript Two teens were seriously injured during two separate shark attacks less than two hours apart off the coast of North Carolina Sunday. I've been here 16 years. This is the first time something as major as this has happened with an attack such as that. According to local media outlets, a 12 year old girl was bitten in Oak Island shortly after. 4 PM. About 90 minutes later, just two miles down the same stretch of beach, a 16- year- old boy was attacked. Attacked by a shark. They said the head was about that big, I think the kid said. Officials at New Hanover Regional Medical Center told WECT The young man's arm was amputated below the shoulder, while the girl's arm was removed below the elbow. She also reportedly suffered trauma to her left leg. The circumstances surrounding these two attacks are still unclear. But experts say a terrifying incident like this is extremely rare. The fact that you had two very serious attacks. Suggests this is not your average bite form a black tip or a spinner shark, which are most common, and that another species, such as a bull or a tiger shark, might Might be involved. And if that wasn't enough to scare swimmers out of the water, authorities confirmed they'd responded to another reported attack 30 miles away at Ocean Isle Beach last week. Definitely a large number of Attacks in a short period of time and North Carolina isn't the only area facing multiple shark attacks in recent weeks. A 19- year- old woman and a 14- year- old girl were injured in separate attacks May 30th in Florida. And just a month before a 65- year- old woman was found dead off the coast of Maui from an apparent Fatal encounter with a shark. But experts say swimmers shouldn't let that keep them away from the water. George Burgess the director of the Florida program for shark research at the University of Florida told Star News Online. People shouldn't Shouldn't be scared to go in the water, but they should be dutifully cautious. A few examples of being dutifully cautious from the Florida Museum of Natural History. Stay in groups. Avoid being in the water early in the morning and during darkness. And do not enter the water when bleeding. 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