Friday’s encounter marks at least the fourth shark attack along the Florida coastline since the beginning of summer. Three swimmers were injured in the Florida Panhandle in early June from what was thought to be at least one, if not several, sharks.
According to the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office, the man was part of a group of people fishing when the shark was reeled onto the boat and the attack occurred.
A marine patrol responded after receiving an emergency call, and a responding deputy was able to apply a tourniquet to slow the bleeding.
“When they got to the boat, it was an adult male that had a severe shark bite to his forearm. He lost a lot of blood,” said Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper.
Once the man made it back to a nearby boat ramp, he was airlifted to a Jacksonville-area hospital, where, at last report, he was expected to recover.
The incident marks at least the fourth shark attack in Florida since the beginning of meteorological summer, with three incidents occurring along the Panhandle in early June.
Due to the proximity of the attacks, Walton County officials sought advice from marine experts to determine if the incidents were part of a larger pattern, but no link was reported to have been found.
The Sunshine State typically sees just under two dozen unprovoked attacks annually, with many occurring along the Central Florida coastline.
Another state that has recently seen an uptick in shark attacks is Hawaii, with at least six events reported since the start of the year.
During one of the attacks, Tamayo Perry, a well-known surfer and actor, was killed by a shark while surfing near Goat Island off the island of Oahu.
Despite the news of the recent attacks, incidents involving the giant fish are still considered to be rare, with 63 attacks occurring annually, according to global data from the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.
