MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man has been taken to the hospital after he was bitten by a shark while swimming off Miami Beach.
According to city officials, the 31-year-old man was bitten by what they believe was a blacktip shark near 10th Street, Wednesday afternoon. The bite left an eight-inch laceration below his knee.
“The lifeguard came and whistled,” Daniel Ciforelli, a swimmer, said. “I’m like, ‘What? Is there a riptide?’ He goes, ‘No, someone just got bit by a shark.'”
Miami Beach Ocean Rescue members were able to get the bleeding under control, but the man was taken to Ryder Trauma Center as a precaution. The patient is currently in stable condition.
Double red flags, which warn beachgoers not to enter the water, are being flown on the lifeguard towers in the area. Lifeguards could be heard calling in swimmers throughout the day.
Officials said a number of bait fish appeared to be in the water when the man was bitten by the shark.
Jason MacIntosh, a drone operator and photographer, said the attack was no surprise. He routinely captures sharks off the waters of Miami Beach, and he said this time of year, bait fish, such as mullet and others, attract larger fish.
“I was flying the drone,” MacIntosh said. “I must have seen 50 tarpons, 50 sharks, and they’re just all in 2 feet, 3 feet of water. It’s the mullet run. It’s all mullet, the bait fish, and the sharks are in a feeding frenzy.”
According to lifeguards, the victim was only a few feet out on the water, in the shallows, when he was bitten.
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