August 19th 2023.
The man was enjoying a swim on the east coast of Spain on Thursday when he encountered a terrifying experience.
He was relaxing in the shallow water, no more than knee deep, when he noticed a 'shadow' nearby.
Within seconds, a blue shark lashed out and went for him, sinking its teeth into his foot.
The man, who is from the Oliva municipality, described the incident, saying: “I noticed a blow to my left leg and then a bite to my right foot. I didn’t have time to get scared. Noticing that blood was coming out of me, I went into the sea so as not to alarm everyone.”
The authorities immediately closed all beaches along a three-mile stretch of coastline after the incident, while the Oliva Health Centre treated the man for his injury and administered a tetanus jab.
Experts believe the shark was confused and 'didn't want anything from us', as blue sharks normally operate miles from the shoreline in deep water.
Jaime Penadés, a marine biologist, said the animal must have been sick or disoriented since it bothers them a lot to be crawling through the sand.
This is the first recorded attack on a swimmer in the Valencia region since 2016, with the last recorded attack happening in 1993.
In spite of the terrifying moment, the man said he would go back to the beach when his foot healed, saying “If you are afraid of things, you are lost.”
An earlier attack in the United States also occurred this month, where a woman was seriously injured by a shark at a beach in New York.
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