Wildlife officials have revealed to a frightened public the fate of a shark that mauled two people on a Texas beach on July 4.
The attack occurred on South Padre Island, Texas, on Thursday morning, and the woman who was bitten on the leg had to be dragged to shore by a team of rescuers.
Following the bloody incident, South Padre Island and Cameron County Parks officials located the shark, hooked it and moved it to deeper waters so it would not be a constant threat to beachgoers, KFDX-TV reported.
New helicopter footage released by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows officers flying directly over the shark as it swims in shallow water just after the attack.
Identified as a bull shark, the animal was not harmed or physically injured during the return operation, according to Capt. Dowdy of Texas Parks and Wildlife.
This image provided by the Texas Department of Public Safety shows a shark near the shoreline at South Padre Island, Texas, on Thursday, July 4, 2024.
The shark swims right near an incoming wave, shortly after biting two people and encountering two others.
Dowdy said the “unusual” attack was likely caused by weather changes brought on by Hurricane Beryl, which is expected to hit the Texas coast sometime Monday as a Category 1 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Bull sharks can reach up to 11 feet in length and have one of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom, stronger pound for pound than the infamous great white shark.
According to initial reports, a total of four people encountered the shark in the water. Two people were bitten and two others escaped with minor injuries.
A woman had a serious injury to her leg.
Footage of the attack shows the woman lying on the sand as a dorsal fin can be seen swimming back and forth near the shore.
Blood from his wound can be seen staining the water a dark red as rescuers place a tourniquet around his leg.
Blood from his wound can be seen staining the waters reaching the beach a dark red as lifeguards place a tourniquet around his leg.
A dorsal fin can be seen swimming back and forth near the shore as the woman lies on the sand.
The incident occurred on South Padre Island, Texas, on Thursday morning and the woman had to be pulled to shore by a team of rescuers.
Because of the shark, officials deployed drones, boats and helicopters to locate the predator and the city was also considering closing the beach.
The woman was later identified as Tabatha Sullivent, who was in the water with her daughter and husband when the shark attacked them.
She said they were beyond a sandbank when the shark followed her into shallow water and bit her calf, after which her husband Cary fought it off.
“I turned around and saw something dark in the water. I thought it was a big fish and I was going to kick it. That’s when it grabbed me,” Sullivent said. FOX Dallas-Fort Worth from a hospital bed.
The shark bit his calf.
“My leg is practically destroyed,” he said. “They removed it today. It’s all the way to the bone, it hasn’t gone through the bone.”
Her husband was also bitten during the attack, but his injuries were minor in comparison.
“If my husband hadn’t stepped in and everyone else on the beach, if there hadn’t been people pulling me out, not just pulling me out, but jumping between me and the shark, I don’t think this would have stopped,” she said.
Tabatha Sullivent sits in a hospital bed after being bitten on the calf by a bull shark. Her husband, who bravely fought off the beast, sits beside her.
Sullivent said if her husband hadn’t jumped into action, along with everyone else on the beach who pulled her out, the shark probably wouldn’t have stopped attacking her.
Tabatha was taken to a nearby hospital where she is in stable condition. Her husband Cary Sullivent (right) remains by her side.
The couple was on the beach celebrating their daughter Skylar’s 15th birthday.
Skylar has created a GoFundMe fundraising page to help raise money for her mother’s recovery. So far, more than $4,600 has been donated.
His daughter Skylar Sullivent shared an update on his condition later that evening on Facebook.
“My mom is trying to rest as much as she can and think about the road ahead. Recovery will be a long process, but I know she will get through it,” Skylar wrote on Facebook.
Immediately after the attack, Texas Parks and Wildlife released a statement informing beachgoers that authorities were patrolling the beach by land, boat and air.
The city also considered closing the beach entirely to the public.
In March, a 14-foot great white shark was spotted near South Padre Island, according to the local radio station. KNFM.
But since officials are reasonably certain that the culprit in the most recent attacks was a bull shark, it’s likely that this great white shark was not involved.
Elisabeth Foley, a victim of a shark attack in the Florida Panhandle in June, is pictured left. Part of her arm had to be amputated.
Lulu Gribbin was one of the teens attacked by a shark just hours after Foley was bitten. The bites were so severe that surgeons had to amputate her “right leg halfway down, from the knee to the hip,” according to a Facebook post written by her mother.
This comes after two teenagers and a woman were attacked by a shark earlier last month in Walton Beach, Florida.
According to the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, Elisabeth Foley, 45, was bitten by the marine animal in the water near Watersound Way and Coopersmith Lane around 1:15 p.m.
He suffered “significant trauma to his midsection and pelvic area and amputation of his left arm,” according to South Walton Fire District Fire Chief Ryan Crawford.
Around 3 p.m., officials responded to calls of another shark attack on two female teenagers, ages 15 and 17, that occurred four miles from the first attack.
The teens were later identified as Lulu Gribbin, who lost a hand and a leg, and McCray Faust, who suffered injuries to his foot.
The three victims, who were visiting the area from other states, were attacked while swimming near the sandbar.
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