Two people were bitten by a shark on the morning of July 4th in the tourist area of South Padre Island, near the city of Brownsville, in southern Texas.
Two Border Patrol agents from the Search, Trauma, and Rescue Unit who were off duty pulled one of the victims out of the water and applied a tourniquet to their leg.
Disturbing images are circulating on social media showing the strong bite that the shark took on one of the victims' left leg, at the level of the calf.
Other images showed the shark - which some have speculated is a tiger shark - swimming very close to the shore amidst the horror of the witnesses.
The details at this time indicate that two people were bitten and two others encountered the shark, but were not seriously injured," the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department stated in a press release.
"Encounters with sharks of this nature are not common in Texas," the statement added, and pointed out that when shark bites occur, they are usually cases in which the sharks mistake humans for species in their food chain.
Padre Island -also known as North Padre Island- is the largest undeveloped barrier island in the world, with 112 miles of protected coastline. It divides the Gulf of Mexico from the Laguna Madre.
According to the International Shark Attack File, managed by the University of Florida, fewer than 10 shark bites had been reported in Texas since 2012. This places the state just behind Florida, which tops the list with 259 reported bites. Hawaii (76), South Carolina (45), North Carolina (31), and California (29) follow next.
Another incident in Florida, also on July 4th.
This Thursday there was also a shark bite recorded in Florida, in this case at New Smyrna Beach, in Volusia County, considered the shark bite capital of the world.
Local media revealed that in that case, a 21-year-old young man was bitten by a shark around four o'clock in the afternoon (local time) while playing soccer with the water up to his knees.
The young man, who was visiting the city on the Atlantic coast from Ohio, was taken to a hospital. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Last year there were 36 unprovoked shark attacks against humans in the United States, and two of those individuals died, according to data from the International Shark Attack File of the Florida Museum of Natural History in its most recent annual report.
The project, which documents shark attacks worldwide, states that the risk of being attacked by a shark is relatively small, but warns that swimmers can further minimize their risk by staying in groups and closer to the shore.
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