'A scene out of Jaws': Shark bites 8-year-old in the Bahamas

They didn’t realize that the sharks were being fed when they jumped into the water

By Katarina Hall

August 8, 2022 7:58pm

Updated: August 10, 2022 7:59am

A group of sharks attacked an 8-year-old British boy who was on vacation with his family in the Bahamas. His father said it was like a scene out of the movie “Jaws.”

At least three nurse sharks bit Finley Downer on both legs after he jumped into a lagoon where the sharks were swimming among a crowd of people in Compass Cay, his father, Michael, said.

However, they didn’t realize that the sharks were being fed when they jumped into the water.

“There was so much blood,” Michael told the Sun. “Bits of his leg were hanging off.”

Finley screamed for help, and his 12-year-old sister managed to pull him out of the lagoon by his arms.

Finley was rushed to the hospital in Nassau for treatment and underwent a three-hour long operation.

“My son could have been killed,” Michael said. “It was like a scene out of Jaws.”

The father and his three children were on a five-island tour the day that the attack happened. The tour guide allegedly told them that the sharks were safe to swim with.

“The tour guide joked to us that whoever didn't have their photo taken with the sharks on the water wouldn't be allowed back in the boat,” Michael said.

The family had been swimming with the same kind of sharks before a little earlier in the day and were even petting them. But then they were taken to another area where dozens of the sharks were swimming. Michael said they did not know they couldn’t swim in this lagoon.

According to the tour operator Exuma Escapes, the family went without a guide to a lagoon that was not meant to be used in the tour.

“It wasn't Fin's fault. He was encouraged to go in the water as part of the tour, he didn't know not to,” said his mother, who was not on the trip. “But people started chucking their lunch in and the sharks attacked him. He was only in the water for a couple of minutes. It was just a freak accident.”

Nurse sharks typically do not hurt humans and are used in several Caribbean locations as part of tours where people can swim with sharks.