A fisherman was bitten on the arm by a shark June 29.
The unidentified man was helping land a small tiger shark at the Wrightsville Beach pier in North Carolina.
The man got into the waist deep water and grabbed the fishing line in an attempt to pull the shark to shore.
Once he got close to the shark, he appears to reach out to grab the shark’s tail. The roughly 4-foot-long shark turned and bit the man on his right forearm.
The man quickly exited the water holding his bleeding appendage.
Witnesses said the man was transported to the hospital by ambulance and is in unknown condition.
Fishing for shark can be extremely dangerous, and one false move can result in serious injury not only to the fisherman, but also the shark.
Tracking Sharks encourages all shark fishermen to participate in tagging programs. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (CSTP) apex predators program provides tags to tag-caught sharks.
In addition, it is vital to know what sharks are legal to catch and which must be released.
There have been a total of 56* shark attack bites in 2017, 5 of which were fatal*; 26 were reported in the US, with 18 occurring in Florida** and one in Hawaii. Nine occurred in Australia, one which was fatal and one with no injury. There were 3 unconfirmed bites, worldwide, not included in the total count.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 Shark Attack Bites Tracking Map.
*Two may be scavenge **One report may have been outside of Florida waters.
