An 11-year-old boy was attacked by a shark in North Carolina Saturday afternoon.



According to WCTI, the victim was surfing off Atlantic Beach when he was attacked.



Atlantic Beach Fire Chief Adam Snyder said first responders were called at 2:34 p.m. for a reported shark bite and the boy was transported to a local hospital with "deep wounds" on his left foot.



The size and kind of shark is unknown. The beach remained open after the attack.







Atlantic Beach is no stranger to shark encounters. Two weeks ago, an 18-year-old man was bitten on his hand while swimming at the same location. He needed stitches but was expected to recover.



North Carolina experienced an increase in shark attacks in 2015 with a record-breaking eight bites for the state over the course of the year. Florida experienced 30 attacks in 2015, contributing to the 98 shark attacks worldwide last year, the highest number of all-time according to the International Shark Attack File (ISAF). Of those attacks, 59 occurred in the United States.



There have already been numerous shark encounters this year, including attacks on an 11-year-old girl and 57-year-old woman in Florida in May. CNN reports two shark attacks resulted in fatalities in June.





Related Video: Shark Week's Paul De Gelder's Inspiring Message To North Carolina Shark Bite Victims









Shark expert Larry Cahoon tells PEOPLE that despite the onset of recent attacks, beachgoers shouldn't avoid the ocean.



"You have a higher chance of getting into a car accident driving to the beach than you do getting attacked by a shark when you get there," the professor of biology and marine biology at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, tells PEOPLE. "The fact is that sharks have millions of contact hours with humans on beaches every year, yet attacks are really rare. Just be smart."