Beaches are closed for surfing and swimming at Cape Henlopen State Park because of a possible shark bite.
DNREC officials closed Herring Point on Thursday afternoon after a 12-year-old boy was taken to a local hospital with a bite mark around 1 p.m.
Beach goers are also restricted to knee-deep waters around the Cape Henlopen bathhouse.
The boy was surfing off Herring Point when he sustained puncture wounds to one of his legs. He was taken to Beebe Hospital in Lewes.
The bite was first reported as a shark bite, but the bite mark is being reviewed by state and fisheries experts to see if it was from a shark or a potential other creature.
DNREC Natural Resource Police Park Rangers and lifeguards are warning surfers and other beachgoers to stay in shallow water.
If this is determined to be a shark bite, it would be the first one at a Delaware State Park beach since June 2014, when the only known shark bite at a state park beach was reported.
