N.Y. doctor ID’d as shark attack victim
Two more sightings reported in area where man was bitten
TRURO — Dr. William Winzer Lytton, the tourist attacked by a shark off Long Nook Beach Wednesday, is a licensed neurologist and professor in New York who’s listed in serious condition at Tufts Medical Center.
Lytton, 61, reportedly suffered puncture wounds to his torso and at least one leg. Beachgoers and first-responders helped whisk him to a medical helicopter.
“Our thoughts and well-wishes are with Dr. Lytton for a full and speedy recovery,” said Dawn Walker, spokesperson for SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn where he teaches. New York State Department of Health also lists Lytton as a licensed neurologist.
Tufts spokesman Jeremy Lechan said the doctor was in serious condition yesterday. The Scarsdale, N.Y., man’s family had requested privacy, he added.
“I’m happy to hear everything with the response went pretty well, and we were able to get him the care he needed in a timely manner. We feel for Mr. Lytton and his family and wish him the best,” Brian Carlstrom, superintendent of Cape Cod National Seashore, told the Herald yesterday.
The type of shark believed to have bitten him has not been confirmed.
Long Nook Beach, a secluded town beach that does not have lifeguards, and where Carlstrom said it’s “swim at your own risk,” was open yesterday, but swimming was prohibited.
Eyewitnesses said Lytton was in deep water 30 yards from shore when he was attacked.
Carlstrom said law-enforcement rangers were trying to pin down what Lytton was doing at the time, where he was and what the conditions were.
At least two additional shark sightings were reported yesterday on the Cape — one at 11:30 a.m. at Head of the Meadow Beach in Truro and another about four hours later at Race Point Beach in Provincetown. Both beaches were closed to swimmers for about one hour.
At Head of the Meadow Beach, Joni Ballas sat with a friend on the sand as her 11-year-old daughter, Sarah, played in the water nearby with other kids.
“We’ve been keeping an eye out and talking to the lifeguards to make sure they’re safe,” said Ballas, 49, of Easton, Conn. “You just have to be aware and make sure you’re following the rules.”
That includes staying at least 150 feet away from seals, a main food source for sharks; not swimming alone at dawn or dusk; and not wearing shiny jewelry, which can trigger predatory behavior in sharks, Carlstrom said.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy said in a statement that sharks “test the waters” with potential meals by using their teeth much like humans use their hands to “determine if what they encounter is prey or something to avoid.”