A 14-year-old boy was recovering in hospital on Thursday after he was attacked by a shark in Strand, Cape Town, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) said.
NSRI spokesperson Craig Lambinon said Andrew Smith — who lives in the area — was surfing at about 5.30pm on Wednesday when he felt something pulling him by the legs.
”He recognised it to be a shark estimated to be between 1,5m and 2m,” said Lambinon.
The boy managed to free himself and swim to shore, where he was treated by a local doctor and taken to hospital.
”He had puncture bite marks to both his feet,” Lambinon said.
He said shark spotters had been dispatched to the area and the Shark Working Group was appealing to surfers and swimmers to exercise caution in the water.
He said a member of the Shark Working Group had also been sent to the hospital to examine Smith’s bite marks and try to determine what species of shark attacked him. — Sapa