A 10-foot sandbar shark bit a man diving off Charleston's coast on May 2.
A 65-year-old man was spearfishing about 20 miles offshore when a sandbar shark bit his left forearm, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Vincent Moreno of the U.S. Coast Guard. The man got back into a 28-foot boat, where the captain applied a tourniquet to his wound.
The boat made its way back to the Charleston Harbor and was met by the Charleston Harbor Police Marine unit and Coast Guard Station Charleston, Moreno said. The boat was directed to the Coast Guard station downtown to meet emergency medical services, which were waiting there for the injured man. He was transported to MUSC for treatment.
Though the situation was "pretty scary," the boat's captain, Jarrett Nicholson, had the proper equipment and first-aid training to get the bleeding under control.
The diver, who has requested to remain anonymous, is out of the hospital and expected to make a full recovery, Nicholson told The Post and Courier on May 5.
Sandbar sharks are common at the location the group was spearfishing at, but aren't usually violent, Nicholson said. They're typically more interested in the fish divers catch than the divers themselves, he added.
"We've never seen anything like this before," Nicholson said. "It caught us all by surprise."
Still, Nicholson and the diver plan to spearfish at the location again.
"He's looking forward to getting recovered and getting back out there," Nicholson said. "This is a risk we take, and we know it."
