A man sustained a leg injury after being bitten by a shark while on a pleasure fishing trip off the south coast of Ireland on Tuesday. The incident occurred around 4:16 p.m. near Ardmore, County Waterford, with five people on board the small vessel at the time.
Emergency services were alerted to the situation on the five-meter boat. The Irish Coast Guard's Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Dublin received a call reporting a leg injury inflicted by a shark bite. The Waterford-based Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 117, was dispatched to the scene, along with the Ballycotton and Youghal Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) crews.
The injured man was airlifted by helicopter to Cork University Hospital, where he is reportedly receiving treatment. The other individuals on the boat were unharmed.
According to social media reports, the shark involved was a Blue Shark that had been caught by mistake and bit the man as the crew attempted to free it. The individual who was bitten is said to be recovering. This is not the first shark bite incident reported off the Irish coast; in 2018, a man from Belfast suffered severe injuries to his lower arm after being bitten by a Blue Shark while reeling it onto his boat.