A diver has been bitten while trying to release a blacktip reef shark from ghost-fishing gear at a site in Hawaii.
Hawaii Island Police responded to the incident at Kaalualu Beach, a popular location for marine-life encounters on the west coast of Hawaii’s Big Island, after receiving a call at around 4.30pm on 9 December.
They arrived to find the injured 24-year-old man from the village of Holualoa. He had been diving with two others when they had spotted the shark entangled in line and fishing gear some 30-40m from shore.
As the group had worked to release the shark, it had begun thrashing and bit the man on both the inner and outer parts of his left thigh. The other divers had brought him back to shore.
Hawaii Fire Department paramedics treated the injured man at the scene and he was reported to be in stable condition while being airlifted to Kona Community Hospital.
The police issued a warning to the public not to attempt to free or handle any entangled marine animals but instead to inform the authorities and enable trained responders to carry out the work.
Quoted in a recent feature on Divernet, shark expert Eric Clua referred to attempts to rescue sharks by saying that “such well-intentioned behaviour can expose the would-be rescuer to a self-defensive bite with neither discernment nor proportionality. The most instinctive reflex for sharks will be to defend themselves and bite.”
