As of 5 p.m. July Fourth, Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue had made 22 rescues, lifeguard captain Jeremy Owens said.
Many of the rescues occurred in the Johnnie Mercer’s Pier area, Owens added. He said all the victims were doing okay. In addition to the rescues, Owens said guards responded to six medical calls and two missing children.
Crowds on Wrightsville’s beach strand were fairly typical for July Fourth, park ranger Shannon Slocum said. The holiday beachgoers started arriving around 8 a.m., and at 5:30 p.m. he said the beach was still busy.
He’d written about 60 citations, he estimated, the most frequent being for open containers of alcohol and glass on the beach.
Check back for our full July Fourth weekend recap.
