A man was pulled from a boat in Florida’s Everglades National Park by a shark in what authorities say is “extremely rare.”
A video of the incident, which was shared on Instagram and with ABC affiliate WPLG-TV, appears to show the man rinsing his hands in the water before a shark emerged, grabbing the man by the hand and dragging him away. Get out of the boat head first into the water.
Other fishermen in the boat could be heard yelling, “Catch him! catch him! Catch him!” Fortunately, the man was able to return to the boat safely, according to the footage.
A friend of the victim called the experience “one of the scariest days on the water I’ve ever had,” according to the outlet.
“Sharks are no joke in the Everglades and the warnings about keeping your hands out of the water are not an exaggeration,” the person who posted the images wrote on social media.
“Take this as a lesson and keep your hands out of the water because this could have been prevented. They took him back to the dock and airlifted him to the hospital and now he has the best possible care,” she added.
For their part, a spokesperson for Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks told CBS News that the men were fishing in Florida Bay when the attack occurred over the weekend.
The man’s injury “was consistent with a shark bite,” the spokesman said, adding that such incidents are “extremely rare” in the national park.
WPLG-TV reported that the man was treated at the scene and then airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center by Miami-Dade Fire personnel.
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