A man was bitten by a shark off a Cape Cod beach in Massachusetts today.
The story is updated here as of 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday. These are the latest Massachusetts shark attack updates:
*The victim, a 61-year-old man, was conscious, according to The Associated Press.
"They were conscious and talking, so we're hoping for the best," Truro Fire Chief Timothy Collins said.
*The man was "seemingly too far out" from the beach, and was seen after an apparent bite "lying on the beach with a large, rectangular gash in his leg. One person said one of the man's hands also appeared mangled," according to the AP.
The man was reportedly swimming in the water or standing, about 300 feet offshore, and bitten today around 4:30 p.m. ET, according to a report from NECN. The news site said Truro, Massachusetts police confirmed the bite. The injured person, reportedly a 61-year-old man, was bitten in the leg, according to WCVB. An emergency services helicopter was on the scene. CBS Boston reports it was a surfer.
NECN said that the victim suffered "deep puncture wounds" in the shark attack. The site published a video of officials on the scene.
The Truro, Massachusetts area has seen an increase in its seal population, which has conversely attracted more great white sharks since the seals are a primary food source.
Last summer a white shark took a bite out of a paddleboard just off Marconi Beach in Wellfleet, throwing its rider into the water, reported NBC Boston, noting that "only recently have (white sharks) been catalogued in large numbers off Cape Cod during the summer."
There hasn't been a fatal shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936, NBC Boston reported and the last great white attack in the state was in 2012, near Truro.
The man bitten in the shark attack today was treated at the scene by paramedics and flown by helicopter to the Tufts Medical Center in Boston, according to the Boston Globe.
Last week two Cape Cod beaches were closed for great white shark sightings. The sightings came days after a scientist posted a viral video off the Massachusetts coast of a great white lurching toward him from the water.
The sightings came one day after a scientist made viral news with a video of a great white leaping from the water toward him. That video was shared by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
"He came right over to the boat," said Nick Kraszyk, one of the fishermen on board when the great white approached off Cape Cod, according to NBC. "He was a little bit curious, and when he realized that we weren't anything special, he just turned and headed off, couldn't find him anymore."
Last week the Meadow Beach in Truro was closed for an hour after a sighting around 11:30 a.m. Eastern. The day before Marconi Beach was closed to swimming for an hour Monday due to a shark sighting.
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