A 27-year-old angler who was bitten “to the bone” by a shark in the Irish Sea has said he wasn’t sure he was going to make it out alive. Sebastian Achim was part of a five-strong crew on a small vessel around four miles off Ram Head, Ardmore, on the southeast coast of Ireland, when the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon.
Attack on deck
The crew had hauled the shark on board and were preparing to release it back into the sea when it “lunged at him,” Achim told The Irish Times. He said: “He managed to bite into my calf, and the bone, and ripped a part of the calf and he took it with him. I started bleeding instantly.”
Achim, who lives in Dungarvan, described his fear during the ordeal: “I thought, ‘I’m not going to make it’. I was trying to stay strong to not scare the other crew.”
Rescue operation
Ireland’s Department of Transport confirmed that a man had suffered a leg injury from a suspected shark bite. At approximately 4.15pm, the Irish Coast Guard’s Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Dublin was alerted by a 999/112 call to an incident on board a small fishing vessel south of Ardmore. The report stated that a male on board had a leg injury inflicted by a bite from a shark.
Achim was winched onto an Irish Coast Guard helicopter and airlifted to Cork University Hospital. He credited the helicopter crew for helping him after applying first aid to stem the blood flow with a rope. “It’s probably the reason why I’m still okay,” he said. The RNLI Ballycotton all-weather lifeboat, The Austin Lidbury, was also launched to assist.
Shark species and history
The shark species is believed to be a blue shark, a common visitor to UK and Irish waters during summer and autumn. Blue sharks can grow to more than 9 ft, while the shark caught by the men measured around 4 feet 9 inches. The near-threatened species is often found in deeper offshore waters where it hunts smaller fish, squid, and sometimes seabirds. Blue sharks are not considered dangerous to swimmers.
Shark-related injuries have occurred in Ireland before. In 2018, an angler was bitten by a blue shark while lifting it on board a vessel. Earlier this month, a Jersey beach was closed after lifeguards encountered a large animal in the water believed to be a 12 ft shark.
