A fisherman in Florida was bitten by a shark while he was washing his hands off the side of a boat in Everglades National Park. The incident was reported to officials of the National Park Service on Friday morning. A park ranger who provided medical treatment confirmed that the man’s injury was consistent with a shark bite. According to an official statement from Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks, such attacks are extremely rare in the Everglades National Park.
The man recounted that he had been fishing from a boat in Florida Bay when he decided to wash his hands in the water, resulting in the shark bite, as stated in the official statement.
A video capturing the incident, which has been verified by a National Parks official, shows a shark jumping out of the water and biting the fisherman’s hand. Subsequently, the shark pulls the man into the murky water, but other fishermen quickly come to his aid, pulling him back onto the boat.
After the shark attack, the man was promptly transported to a nearby hospital by Miami Dade Fire Rescue for medical treatment. However, the fisherman who captured the video chose not to provide any comments regarding the incident.
Allyson Gantt, the chief of communications and public affairs for Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks, suggested that the shark seen in the video was probably a bull shark.
The incident took place in Florida Bay, a vast lagoon in southern Florida where the freshwater from the Everglades combines with the saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico, as stated by the University of Florida.
“While shark bites are extremely uncommon in Everglades National Park, we always recommend visitors take caution around park wildlife,” the statement noted.
According to the National Wildlife Federation, bull sharks can travel across both fresh and saltwater bodies. Other Florida fishermen have reported similar interactions with aggressive bull sharks in the area.
Yanni Melissas, a charter boat captain and owner of Boca Grande Fishing Charters, told ABC News that bull sharks sometimes target the fish caught by anglers.
“When a fish is on the line, it gives a chance for a shark that might normally not be able to catch it the ability to catch up with it and attack it, especially if the fish has been on the line for a long time; it can get tired,” Melissas said.
He added that a “few times a year” during his fishing trips, sharks can eat the fish hooked by anglers before they can fully reel it in. On other occasions, sharks “will hide underneath the boat” in wait for when the fishermen release their catches.
“It’s a really scary situation to have a fish as big as you, bigger than you, 150 pounds or 175 pounds, just be devoured at the boat by one or multiple bull sharks that are fighting,” Melissas said.