The first unprovoked shark attack in New Jersey since 2017 happened this week after a teenage surfer was bitten off the coast of Stone Harbor.
FOX 29 reports 15-year-old Maggie Drozdowski was surfing with a buddy off the beach near 109th Street in Stone Harbor when she felt something wrap around her foot and try to tug her under.
“I felt something around my foot, and it pulled me down a little bit. I shook my leg as hard as I could to get it off, but it just wouldn’t.”
Sarah O’Donnell was surfing with Maggie when the shark bit and thought her friend was drowning
“I went over the wave, and she went under it, she screamed, and I turned around because I thought she was drowning or something, but she got up, and she said, ‘I think something bit me.”
Medics were called to the scene when Maggie got back to shore and she was taken to Cape May Regional Medical Center for treatment that included six stitches. Wildlife officials still are unsure of the size or species that may have attacked her
Maggie was wearing a 3-millimeter wetsuit at the time of the attack and credits it for saving her from more serious injuries.
Maggie credits her 3-millimeter wetsuit for giving her enough protection to keep the suspected shark from inflicting much more serious injuries. While she is in good spirits after her run in with a shark, she isn’t sure if she’ll be going near the ocean anytime soon.