An attack by a shark off the east coast of Florida on Friday left a man on a boat with a “severe bite to his right arm,” according to the police.
The victim was badly hurt when the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit arrived at the scene of the shark attack at 11:15 a.m. local time, the sheriff’s office said in a social media post. Police said the man was losing blood after the shark bit his wrist.
The sheriff’s office said, “A deputy quickly boarded the boat and put on a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.” “He then took charge of the boat and steered it to the Dee Dee Bartels boat ramp, where Fernandina Beach Fire Rescue was waiting.”
The man was then flown to a nearby hospital to get help. The sheriff’s office said he is in critical condition but should get better.
This happened after three people were hurt in two different shark attacks that happened 90 minutes apart at beaches in neighboring Walton County, Florida, earlier this month.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says that between April and October is the busiest time for sharks in Florida seas.
The committee said, “Yet shark bites are still very uncommon.” In Florida, it’s 30 times more likely for a person to be hit by lightning than for a shark to bite them. Experts say that the rise in shark bites over the past few years is more likely due to more people visiting than to more sharks or more shark activity.
The commission says that less than 1% of shark bites in Florida end in death.
“Experts believe that most shark bites are caused by people thinking that another animal is a shark,” the commission said. “This is why almost all shark bites that happen in Florida waters are bite-and-release.”
There is a very small chance of getting bitten by a shark, but the Florida Museum of Natural History’s annual shark attack report says that the state has the most shark bites of any state in the world.
In 2023, 16 random shark bites were reported in Florida. That’s 44% of all shark bites in the US and 23% of all shark bites in the world. The most shark bites were recorded in Volusia County. Other counties that had bites were Brevard, St. Lucie, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Escambia, and Pinellas. It was stated that no one died in the state last year because of the attacks.
Nassau County is on the east coast of Florida, close to the line with Georgia.
Source: CNN
