VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – The Virginia Beach Rescue Squad confirmed to WAVY there have been four confirmed “marine life” bites in the resort city within the past week.
According to EMS, all four people required minor first aid.
The mother of one of the bite victims reached out to 10 On Your Side with images showing her 10-year-old daughter’s injury. The child’s mother said she believes her daughter Vivienne was bitten by a baby sand shark last Thursday morning around 9:20 a.m.
“They really weren’t that deep,” said Virginia Beach mom Arryn Van Slyke. “They were probably, like, a little bit above their knees and they were just jumping and then all of a sudden they came running out.”
Van Slyke said at first she thought a jellyfish bit them or something, but then Vivienne put her foot out and just screamed.
“I looked down at her foot and I see like the whole, like bite mark and then there was one part where like her flesh was showing, so of course I’m like just completely in shock,” Van Slyke said.
A city spokesperson confirmed that first responders received a call around 9:30 a.m. that day about a child with a foot injury in the water at Sandbridge Beach. First responders assessed the patient on scene then transported the child to a local hospital.
The images provided to WAVY show the child at the hospital being treated for her foot injury. We’ve chosen not to include the image that shows the injury before it was stitched up. The wound from the bite required eight stitches, the mom told us.
There is still no confirmation from officials at this time if the “marine life” that bit the 10-year-old was in fact a shark, but Van Slyke said Vivienne was treated for what medical officials are calling a “shark bite laceration.”
“They did x-rays to make sure there was no teeth in there and to make sure she didn’t have any broken bones, and everything was good on the x-ray,” Van Slyke said.
Virginia Beach EMS Brigade Chief of Marine Operations Cat Watson said all bites happened at different times, and the locations are spread out, but they can’t say what type of marine life the bites are from without medical confirmation.
She said bites like these are rare, but it is the ocean so you must remain vigilant.
“If you see a large group of school of fish swimming in the ocean, we recommend not swimming in the middle of that,” Watson said. “Additionally, if you see a pod of dolphins, that’s also not safe to go swim [with] the dolphins. You want to respect marine life because it is their home.”
Virginia Beach EMS said to always swim near lifeguards, if there is one, and be aware of your surroundings.
“It’s not just the possibility of sharks, it could be large schools of fish,” Watson said. “It could be pods of dolphins, jelly fish, sea life.”
Watson added that it’s important to avoid those out fishing on the beach.
“Don’t swim right next to a fisherman, but maybe give them a little bit of space on either side,” Watson said.
Van Slyke said Vivienne is in good spirits and is healing well, but doesn’t plan to go back in the water anytime soon.
“She keeps saying she’s really lucky that nothing worse happened, but she’s unlucky because she got bit by a shark in the first place,” Van Slyke said. “They decided they’re probably never going in the water at the beach, which we’ve been there so many times, so its just crazy that it even happened, but yeah it’s really scary.”
If you do need medical attention, flag down a lifeguard and call 911. They say it’s important to know what hundred block marker you are closest to in order to help get assistance to you faster if you’re in an unguarded area.
“We do have lifeguards patrolling routinely,” Watson said, “So we actually have these red and white, 10-foot tall, two-by-fours that have their 100 blocks painted. So when you do call 911, give that closest marker number that you’re at and we’ll know exactly where you’re at on the beach.”
The markers are red and white and you can see them as you enter the beach.
