Man in critical condition after attack by shark he caught while fishing in Florida

A man is in critical condition while fishing in Florida yesterday morning after suffering a severe bite to his right forearm in a shark attack.

The man, a man in his 40s, was on a boat off Fernandina Beach, north of Jacksonville, caught the shark while fishing and, after being bitten, threw it back into the water, Action News Jax reported.

The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit received a distress call on their emergency radio at 11:15 a.m. and when they reached the boat, they found the man had “lost a lot of blood,” according to a video posted on Facebook by the sheriff.

“Upon arrival, NCSO officers found the victim with a serious injury. An officer quickly boarded the vehicle and applied a tourniquet to stop the bleeding,” the NCSO said on Facebook.

“The victim was immediately flown by helicopter to a nearby hospital. His condition is currently critical but he is expected to recover.”

Nassau County, Florida is about 150 miles north of Volusia County, which is considered the “shark bite capital of the world” and where 17 bites occurred in 2021, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File.

Last year, individuals in this state were the victims of attacks 16 times, representing 44% of all attacks in the United States.