Florida Woman Taken to the Hospital With Shark Still Attached to Her Arm

[kellyhound]

A 23-year-old Florida woman was taken to the hospital Sunday afternoon because of a shark bite. But, according to the Boca Raton Fire Rescue, the nurse shark was still attached to her arm.

“I have never seen anything like it. Never even heard of anything like this,” Ocean Rescue Capt. Clint Tracy, who saw the woman and the shark as they were transferred to an ambulance at Red Reef Park, said.

The woman, whose name was not released, was taken to the Boca Regional Hospital by Boca Raton Fire Rescue and she is in stable condition, according to spokesman Robert Lemons.

The shark was dead before emergency responders arrived at the scene, “but was still attached to her arm,” Lemons said. Tracy praised the life guard who helped the woman, saying, “The guard responded calmly, called for backup, and the lieutenant called fire rescue.”

Several beachgoers said they saw the woman and her friends antagonizing the shark. According to Nate Pachter, 11, said he and his cousin were snorkeling when they saw the group “holding the shark by its tail. They were messing with it.”

“Sharks are like the most humane thing ever,” Patcher said. “So it wouldn’t bite them if they hadn’t been messing with it.”

Nurse sharks are extremely common in offshore Florida and can grow up to 14 feet in length. The creatures are able to remain totally still as they breathe by pumping water through their mouths and out of their gills.

In fact, according to researchers, the small sharks are sometimes seen stationary on the ocean floor.

Nurse sharks are known for having strong jaws and thousands of tiny teeth.

“Knowingly or not, people swim near nurse sharks every day without incident,” according to the National Park Service. “Attacks on humans are rare, but not unknown, and a clamping bite typically results from a diver or fisherman antagonizing the shark with hook, spear, net or hand.”

“The bite reflex is such that it may be some minutes before a quietly re-immersed nurse shark will relax and release its tormentor,” they added. “The small teeth seldom penetrate deeply but are razor sharp.”

Holding still reduces the damage for both shark and human, according to the NPS, adding that leaving sharks alone “is the best tactic.”

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016...ed-to-her-arm/

[Steve]

Nurse shark....BWAHAHAHA the irony.

[gatagato]

It doesn't look that bad.... I would have kept it attached to my arm forever, it's so cute....

[thckoitin]

Originally Posted by Top Gear

Nurse shark....BWAHAHAHA the irony.

This.

Maybe it was trying to check hemoglobin.

[Meridian]

Stupid woman - antagonises the shark then kills it.

[MikeLRM]

Pry the fucker off you dumb bitch. That's what we do to small alligators down here in South Louisiana

[commondenom]

i caught one of those before....little fucker was strong as fuck!!! it was so strong i thought my line was caught on a rock and reeled and pulled trying to snap the line and ended up walking up the beach still trying to snap the line and ended up dragging one about the same size as the one in the pic out of the water and onto the sand...

it was cute as anything, just like a real shark but smaller.... i tossed it back

[Azimuth]

All I read this for was to see how the shark is.

[chuck Dean]

I was hoping for hospital photos of the wound.

[SLAPAPPY]

Rip it off like an 8 day old band aid!