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Florida Keys fisherman bit by shark that jumped onto a dock 

“The shark was reportedly out of the water and on the dock when it bit the angler,” the sheriff’s office said

Bullshark
Bullshark | Shutterstock

May 22, 2023 8:25am

Updated: May 22, 2023 8:25am

A Florida fisherman who was angling, had a bizarre experience on Friday after a shark bit his foot on a dock, marking the second shark bite in a week, authorities said. 

A 35-year-old man was fishing from a dock on Flagship Drive in Summerland Key at around 8 p.m. when something bit his line and he reeled it up onto the dock. To his surprise, he had hooked a shark, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office. 

“The shark was reportedly out of the water and on the dock when it bit the angler,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

The man was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami shortly after the attack, the sheriff’s office added, without specifying his condition.  

The incident marks the second shark attack in 24 hours in Florida. On Thursday, a 20-year-old man was spearfishing about 70 feet underwater off the coast of Marathon when he was bitten by a bull shark on his leg, according to a police report by the sheriff’s office. He was airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami to be treated. 

“He actually bit me twice, and it was probably around anywhere, 9 or 10 feet, and about 500 pounds,” said the victim, Kevin Blanco. “He came out of nowhere, 20 or 30 mph, and I just see the big gray figure of him just there, and I see it every time I close my eyes, no joke.”

Blanco saved his leg from being cut off by using his weight belt as a tourniquet before seeking help from the EMTs. 

Last week, a 13-year-old girl escaped a shark attack in Florida by punching the animal repeatedly, reported Local 10 News. Ella Reed was sitting in waist-deep water when she suddenly felt intense pain.

“The shark itself was so powerful,” Reed said. “That was what I felt the most because it was hitting my stomach really hard.”

Reed was bitten in the stomach, arm, knee, and fingers, but was able to save herself from more wounds by punching the shark when it came close to her. 

 “It wouldn’t leave me alone, so I had to use my arm and use my hand too, so it got my arm and my finger,” Reed told the station.