Cape Cod swimmer bitten by shark

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CAPE COP, Mass., July 31 (UPI) -- A man swimming off a Cape Cod beach in Massachusetts was hospitalized after apparently being attacked by what witnesses said was a shark.

The man, who declined to be identified, was in stable condition at Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis Monday with severe cuts to both legs, the Cape Cod Times reported. He was later transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Truro Fire Chief Brian Davis said the man was not expected to lose either leg. A nurse who aided the victim at the beach said the bites were below the knees.

Officials could not confirm the attack was by a shark, but the man told hospital staff he was bitten by a shark.

Some beachgoers said they saw a "huge fin" in the water near the man just before he was bitten as he swam off Ballston Beach.

The last fatal shark in Cape Cod was in 1936, but shark sightings have become more frequent in recent years because of the presence of seals.