Stories1 min(s) read
Published 14:16 24 Sep 2020 GMT
The odds of a person being involved in a shark attack are low, but never zero, with the International Shark Attack File reporting that the odds are around one in 3,748,067.
And this Sunday, a shark attacked a snorkeler in the Florida Keys, with witnesses reporting that his pregnant wife jumped off their boat to drag him to safety.
Several others were in the water of the Sombrero Reef, a popular snorkeling spot, at the time of 10:30 a.m.when the Miami Herald reports that Andrew Eddy donned his equipment and left the boat.
However, the moment he entered the water, he was attacked by a large shark, which is believed to be a bull shark, that latched onto his shoulder.
His wife, Margot Dukes-Eddy, immediately put her life and that of her unborn child at risk to save him.
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"Dukes saw the shark's dorsal fin and then blood filling the water. Dukes, without hesitation, dove into the water and pulled Eddy to the safety of the boat," Deputy Christopher Aguanno wrote in his report.
The 30-year-old was subsequently taken by boat to Sombrero Beach in Marathon to receive medical care, and the Miami Herald reports that his condition as of Tuesday was unknown.
The sheriff's office report stated that prior to the incident Eddy was on the 20-foot open motorboat that day with Dukes-Eddy, her parents, her sister, and her sister's boyfriend.
Before he jumped into the water, her father, sister, and sister's boyfriend had already gone in.
Aguanno said that there were also a number of snorkelers and fishers who were chumming in the waters.
Deputies had been informed by other boaters in the area that they'd seen an "8 or 9 foot bull shark".
While sharks are common in the Florida Keys, shark bites themselves are relatively rare.
As per the latest information from the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File, there have been 17 unprovoked shark bites since 1882 in Monroe County.
However, in contrast to this, Volusia County in northern Florida has had 312, which is why it's now been dubbed the "the shark bite capital of the world."
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George Burgess, now retired director of the International Shark Attack File, said on Tuesday about shark attacks in the Keys: "It's relatively uncommon."
The reason that shark bites are relatively uncommon in the area is because of the types of recreational activities carried out in its waters, with the Keys lacking the waves that make Volusia a hotspot for swimmers and surfers, who are at a higher risk of a shark attack when their limbs are mistaken for fish.
"You have different types of activity, different types of sharks and different types of density," Burgess said.
