Shark attacks 4 off Texas coast on July 4 as beachgoers pull 'severely injured' swimmers to shore

According to officials, four persons are thought to have been bitten by the same shark on July 4th while in waters off the southern coast of Texas .

Texas Game Warden Capt. Chris Dowdy claimed that there were four distinct shark bite incidences recorded off South Padre Island . In one of the cases, at approximately 11 a.m. local time on Thursday, the South Padre Island Police Department reported receiving a call regarding a "severe" shark bite to the leg in the vicinity of the 4100 block of Gulf Boulevard.

The individual was treated on the spot by South Padre Island police and fire department first responders before being sent to a local hospital, according to the police. The man's condition was not updated by a police official.

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In the immediate aftermath of the assault, a shark was seen swimming close to the coast in footage captured by a beachgoer. According to Dowdy, who spoke with KRGV, the shark has escaped into open waters and there are currently no plans to contain it. "Here’s footage of a shark about 20 feet from shore on South Padre Island this morning… it bit a beachgoer on the thigh, who was taken away on a stretcher by beach EMS," wrote Katie McMillan in a post on X.

A new video of the aftermath of an attack has surfaced online, showing a woman being pulled into the shallows with a bite to her calf. A few dozen feet away, a shark is spotted swimming, and other beachgoers use tourniquets to stop the bleeding.

After being informed, the U.S. Coast Guard is currently conducting surveillance in the area with the use of drones, boats, and a helicopter. In an effort to protect beachgoers from any more assaults, officials will keep an eye on the waterways. Shark attacks are rare but not unheard of along the Texas coast.

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In May, a shark attacked a teenage Oklahoman in Galveston. Two shark attacks happened in one day in Florida on Friday, June 7, somewhere else along the U.S. coast.

Based on information from the International Shark Attack File kept at the Florida Museum, there have been 45 unprovoked shark attacks in Texas since 1911. There have been 928 unprovoked shark attacks in Florida, compared to 195 in Hawaii and 195 in California.

Researchers observed a rise in unprovoked shark attacks globally and a higher number of fatalities in 2023 as compared to the year before. In 2023, 69 unprovoked bites were confirmed by the International Shark Attack File. The range of bites was normal, according to Gavin Naylor, director of the Florida Museum of Natural History's shark research program, but the number of fatalities is a little concerning.