Shark attack kills man on Cape Cod beach, first in 82 years in Massachusetts

A man died Saturday afternoon from injuries sustained during a shark attack off Cape Cod, according to authorities, the first deadly shark attack in Massachusetts for eight decades.

Bystanders shot a man in his mid-twenties on Newcomb Hollow Beach and executed CPR, said police lieutenant Michael Hurley of the Wellfleet Police in a statement. He was rushed to the Cape Cod Hospital, where he died later, said Hurley. The man's name was not released immediately.

The National Parks Service, which is responsible for this part of the Cape Cod National Shoreline, tweeted that the attack took place about 300 meters south of the beach. Cape Cod National Seashore said it closed the beach access to the sea. Eyewitnesses told the Associated Press that the man was doing bodyboarding with a friend.

Hurley said the Cape Cod District Attorney will be conducting an investigation into the incident.

The seal population in the area has increased, and with them sharks in aggressive pursuit, said Gavin Naylor, director of Florida's shark research program. White sharks of 10 to 12 feet have recently been reported in the area, he said.

Many attacks occur when sharks confuse humans with prey during attacks, he told the Washington Post on Saturday. The researchers suspect that the attacks are likely to increase because sharks are more likely to meet people, especially when surfers hunt waves caused by hurricanes, he added.

Although he has no details about Saturday's attack, Naylor said it was probably a white shark that attacked the man in a wrong identity case in the least deep where boogie surfers are looking for waves.

"A white shark 12 feet long and 1,200 pounds moving at 20 knots with an open mouth does some damage," he said. "They are like a truck when they get fat."

It's been 82 years since a shark attack took place in Massachusetts. Joseph Troy Jr., a 16-year-old boy, was killed by a white shark at Mattapoisett in Buzzards Bay in 1936.

Joe Booth, a local fisherman and surfer, watched Saturday's attack ashore, he told AP. The man kicked aggressively. There was a glimpse of a tail piercing the surface of the water. Then the friend dragged the wounded man into the sand.

"I was this guy on the beach screaming," Shark, shark! "Booth told AP." It was like at the release of this movie Jaws. That 's turned into Amity Island really fast here. "

Booth said that there was a frantic race to make a tourniquet and bring the first responders to the scene.

Cape Cod National Seashore on its website, beachgoers have been warned that there are no lifeguards on the beach during the off-season months and advises them to watch for white sharks.

The man's death on Saturday comes exactly one month after the August 15 attack off Cape Cod. The powerful jaw of a shark blocked William Lytton's leg a few feet from the shore of Truro Beach, about 10 miles north of Saturday's attack.

Lytton is released by hitting the shark in the gills, he told the Boston Globe. He has undergone half a dozen surgeries and hopes to leave the hospital by the end of September, he told the newspaper.

Shark attacks have increased worldwide every decade due to the explosion of populations adding more and more swimmers to the water, according to the International Shark Attack Files, but nothing is wrong. 39 indicates an increase in the per capita rate.

Attacks occur in coastal waters, often near sandbanks where potential food congregates. Last month, beachgoers in Cape Cod saw a white shark tearing a seal just steps from the beach.

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