Yahoo Sports Man Hospitalized After 'Rare’ Shark Bite Off Florida Barrier Island
First responders who were already in the area due to another emergency were able to treat the man and transport him to a nearby hospital
A man was bitten on his lower leg in what authorities are calling a “rare” shark attack off the coast of Florida.
The victim, who is in his 20s, was in the water at the north end of Anna Maria Island, a barrier island in the Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles south of Tampa, on Sunday afternoon when the incident occurred, according to CBS affiliate WTSP-TV and Spectrum Bay News 9.
At the same time, West Manatee Fire Rescue was in the vicinity, transporting nine injured passengers from a nearby boat crash when authorities were flagged down, according to ABC affiliate WFTS-TV.
Two lifeguards hopped aboard the boat with the victim and were able to treat the man, whose leg had already been placed in a tourniquet, before transporting him to an area hospital.
Related: 12-Year-Old Survives Shark Attack While Swimming at Florida Beach
WFTS-TV reported that he had non-life-threatening injuries.
West Manatee Fire Rescue did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Bob Heuter, chief scientist at OCEARCH, an organization that tracks ocean life, told WTSP-TV that the man was likely spearfishing at the time and that the shark involved was likely a bull shark.
"This is the species that will sometimes go for a fish that a spear fisherman has shot and the person will get in the way and they'll get a leg or an arm bitten. It happened just a couple of months ago in the same area," Heuter said. "[Bull sharks] are actually increasing in numbers because we've been rebuilding the shark population over the last 30 years."
Authorities say shark attacks around the barrier island are rare and that only three have happened in the last 15 years, per WFTS-TV.
Most shark incidents occur on the Atlantic side of the state, with Volusia County recording the most shark bites last year, seven total, per the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File.
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"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," Don Stansell, a marine biologist with Clearwater Marine Aquarium, told WFTS-TV. "Sharks will chase them right up to the surf."
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