An 8-year-old boy was attacked by a shark Sunday while swimming off a North Carolina beach, suffering a leg injury that required a trip to a nearby hospital, reports said.

DAD TALKS ABOUT SHARK ENCOUNTER: I HIT HIM WITH EVERYTHING I COULD

The boy, who was not identified, was swimming off Bald Head Island when authorities said a shark grabbed him by the leg at around 4 p.m., WECT.com reported. First responders who inspected the puncture wounds determined it was a shark. It was unclear what of what kind of shark.

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The boy is expected to make a full recovery, the report said.

According to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida in Gainesville, a research organization that tracks shark bite reports worldwide, there were a total of 32 unprovoked shark attacks in the United States in 2018, making up 48 percent of the worldwide total. The number was down from 53 attacks in 2017.

Fox News' Madeline Farber contributed to this report