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A MAN WAS rescued from a boat off the coast of Waterford on Tuesday after suffering a shark bite while on board.
The Coast Guard said it received a report that “a male on board the fishing vessel had a leg injury inflicted by a bite from a shark”.
It’s understood the man was bitten by a blue shark, a species that averages around three metres in length, as he was trying to control it after pulling it on board.
Phone footage from the scene shows the aftermath of the incident, which happened on a small angling craft. The man was winched from the vessel and taken for hospital treatment in Cork.
Ballycotton RNLI said it was part of the multi-agency operation after it received a request from Dublin Coast Guard at around 4.15pm.
There were five people on board the five-metre pleasure boat, which was about four miles off Ram Head, Ardmore.
File photo of a blue shark Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The rescue effort involved Ballycotton RNLI, Youghal RNLI and an Irish Coast Guard helicopter.
Ballycotton RNLI’s all-weather Trent-class lifeboat, The Austin Lidbury, was launched at 4.30pm, the RNLI said.
“With calm sea conditions and good visibility, the lifeboat arrived on scene at approximately 5.10pm. Youghal RNLI and Rescue 117 were already at the casualty vessel.
“Both lifeboats remained on standby while the casualty was winched from the vessel by Rescue 117 and transferred for emergency evacuation to Cork University Hospital.”
The rest of the people on board did not require assistance and the vessel later returned safely to Dungarvan.
The coxswain on duty, Eolan Walsh, said the operation was “a well-coordinated multi-agency response”.
“Our crew were pleased to be able to support the operation and remain on scene while the casualty was transferred for emergency treatment and we wish the casualty a full recovery.
“Incidents such as this are a reminder that conditions at sea can change quickly and that anyone heading offshore should make safety a priority,” Walsh said.
‘Very uncommon’
Dr Nicholas Payne, a marine biologist and associate professor at the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, said that incidents like these are “very uncommon” but that there are a lot of blue sharks in Irish waters around this time of year.
“Ireland is a very, very common place for them to come. From April through to November, we see a lot of blue sharks in Ireland. It’s a great habitat for them,” he said.
While blue sharks are not aggressive, Payne said that are a relatively common creature for anglers to encounter and that people should be “very careful” if they pull one up onto a boat.
“They’re a big animal with big teeth and you need to be very, very careful how you handle them and you also need to have experience in doing it, otherwise it can be a potentially dangerous situation.”