Coast Guard: New York fisherman bitten while removing hook from mouth of shark he caught
By APSaturday, July 3, 2010
NY fisherman bitten on arm by blue shark he caught
SHINNECOCK, N.Y. — The Coast Guard says a captured shark bit a fisherman as he tried to remove a hook from its mouth on a boat off New York’s Long Island.
The incident happened Saturday on a fishing boat about 25 miles south of Shinnecock Inlet. It came a day after the Coast Guard warned recreational boaters to keep watch for predatory sharks in ocean waters from Maine to New Jersey.
The 20-year-old fisherman was trying to remove the hook from the blue shark’s mouth when it bit him on his right bicep.
A Coast Guard rescue crew escorted the man back to shore, where he was treated by paramedics. His name wasn’t released.
A Coast Guard spokesman says it’s unclear what happened to the shark, or how big it was.
