Fisherman bitten by Shark in Bay of Biscay

Helmut Nickel, Shark Year Magazine,
30. August 2013

A 51-years old Basque fisherman was airlifted to hospital after being bitten by a young shortfin mako shark that he had just caught.

On 26. August 2013, the Spanish longliner ‘Gure Leire’ reported a provoked shark bite incident.

The 22-metres long commercial fishing vessel is based in the town of Ondarroa, which is located in the Basque Country of northern Spain.

A small shark bit the arm of Ramón Arufe (51) while he was hauling in the catch in the Bay of Biscay. The incident occurred in French waters, over 70 miles from the Spanish coastline. The involved species is reported to be a mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) of ca. 1.50 metres in length and 30 kg in weight. Although the injury did not appear to be excessive, the victim suffered intense blood loss. He was taken by helicopter to the Hospital Comarcal del Bidasoa for medical treatment.

The wound on the right upper arm required eight stitches. Mr. Arufe was released in good condition after spending the night in hospital. The fisherman plans to return to work as soon as possible.

Source: elcorreo

Related video below, uploaded by eitbcom on 28. August 2013 :
30 kg shark bites fisherman

 

 

2 Comments

  1. Cathy O

    It’s unfortunate this individual was bitten and am happy the outcome is okay.  What is disturbing to me (and revealed in the video ) is that this boat and one other exclusively fish for sharks and combined they haul in over 600,000 lbs annually.  

Leave a Reply