Caution: Shark spotting closes Coligny Beach water

Shark spottings closed parts of Coligny Beach Thursday afternoon.

The shark was spotted at about 1 p.m. Thursday, according to Mike Wagner, operations manager for Hilton Head Island Shore Beach Services.

About 30 minutes later sections of the beach began allowing swimmers back into the water. But at about 4 p.m., parts of the beach were closed again.

“It’s a routine procedure,” Wagner said.

The procedure requires lifeguards to call people out of the water until 30 minutes after the last time a shark was seen, according to Wagner.

Wagner said that during the summer months small sections of the beach are closed multiple times a week — if not daily — due to shark spottings.

Last month, a teenager from Ohio said she was bitten by a shark while on a boogie board on a Hilton Head Island beach during her first day of vacation.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 2:28 PM with the headline "Caution: Shark spotting closes Coligny Beach water."