ANNA MARIA ISLAND, Fla. — A man was hospitalized Sunday afternoon after a shark bit him.
The West Manatee Fire District said a report of the incident came in around 3:40 p.m.
The man, 22, was out boating with friends around Anna Maria Island near Bean Point when the shark bit him in the leg.
"You have a tourniquet on?" asked a lifeguard.
"Yes," replied the passengers on board the boat.
Two lifeguards hopped on the victim's boat to help. The boat then continued to shore, arriving at King Fish Boat Ramp on Sunday just after 4 p.m.
West Manatee Fire Rescue was transferring those injured in Sunday's boat crash onto ambulances at the ramp in Holmes Beach when the boater drove up with the man on board.
He was then rushed to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton, Manatee County's only Level II trauma center.
Officials said the man was alert and appeared to have non-life-threatening injuries.
"Well, to my knowledge, this is the third event in the last 15 years, so it's very rare, but obviously, it does happen," said West Manatee Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski.
The Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File is a database that tracks all known shark attacks. According to the database, Florida has topped global charts in the number of shark bites, and the trend continued in 2022. In Florida, Volusia County has the most shark bites, with seven total.
"The East Coast sees large migratory schools of bait fish, acres if not miles of them, that run along the beach on the Atlantic side. They attract all kinds of sharks," said Don Stansell, a marine biologist with Clearwater Marine Aquarium. "Sharks will chase them right up to the surf."
Kwiatkowski said some beachgoers were later upset they weren't notified of the shark attack, but the attack occurred a ways off the beach.
Stansell encourages people to stay out of the water at dawn and dusk. He also encourages people to get out of the water if they see a large number of bait fish.
"If you're in the water and the water turns black with millions of little bait fish. I mean, you could assume there's some other predatory fish or possibly a shark there, too," he added.
Stansell said Bean Point is at the northern tip of Anna Maria Island, and it's a very popular tarpon fishing area.
The beach has no lifeguards and is not one of the county's official public beaches. However, there are beach access walkways in between some of the homes that line the end of the beach, many of which are vacation rentals.
"The Bean Point area is right at the mouth of Tampa Bay, and many, many sharks use Tampa Bay as a nursery, and they flow in and out of Tampa Bay," he said.
For more information on shark attacks across the globe, visit here.
