I don’t like writing about shark attacks because I am old enough to remember the summer of 2001, where the BIG neverending news story was the number of shark attacks, or near-shark-attacks that were happening.  On September 4, 2001, for example, a man was killed and his girlfriend critically injured off the NC beaches, by a shark. Those news stories is why Summer 2001 became known as “The Summer of The Shark”, despite the fact that:

Researchers at the University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File recorded 76 unprovoked attacks worldwide in 2001, compared to 85 in 2000. The number of people killed in shark attacks also dropped to five from 12 the previous year.

So it was media hype, mostly.  The Summer of The Shark only went away when a big plane hit the North Tower.

So I think shark stories are a sensationalist jinx, which is why I don’t write about them.

That said, yikes:

A 16-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl lost their left arms and suffered other serious injuries in separate shark attacks in Oak Island, North Carolina, authorities said Sunday night.

The kids, who weren’t identified, were upgraded from critical to fair condition after surgery and were stable at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, said Martha Harlan, a spokeswoman for the hospital. The girl’s left arm was amputated below the elbow, and she suffered lower leg tissue damage, Harlan said, while the boy’s left arm was amputated below the shoulder.

This appears to be the work of a single shark.  So, you know, call Quint.

P.S.  The boy who was hurt was not from Winston-Salem.