A vacationer wade-fishing off Bean Point Oct. 2 became the second victim of a shark bite in local waters in eight days.
Javier Perez, 38, vacationing on Anna Maria Island with relatives, was in waist-high water near the tip of the Island when he said he was bitten in the back of his left thigh by a shark. The species is not known.
The incident occurred at about 1 p.m., according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, which responded with West Manatee Fire Rescue and Manatee County Emergency Medical Services personnel.
Perez and his family — three adults and three children were with him — signaled for help from a boater, who took the injured man to the Rod & Reel Pier, where emergency aid awaited.
From the pier, he was rushed by ambulance to Blake Medical Center in Bradenton. The MCSO described his injuries as scratches and a small, open flap, and he had been discharged by Oct. 3.
At the time of the attack, Perez had just emptied his bait bucket in the water. Then he saw a shark pass, felt a tug on his leg and saw blood.
On Sept. 24, a Longboat Key man who had been spearfishing with friends, suffered a severe bite from a bull shark. He was hospitalized for nearly a week.
Volusia County authorities also reported that a man suffered a shark bite Sept. 16.
I live across from the beach and in the summer I have seen many tourists setting up camp with their metal poles in the middle of a lightning storm!! So you see not every one pays attention to some of the dangers here in Florida!
In both cases of shark bite recently, the victims had placed bloody fish in the water near them. The spear fisher had speared fish in the water and the latest had just dumped his scrap bucket. In both cases they were in effect, “chumming” for shark. What do you expect would happen when you put a blood scent in the water where you are standing? The media is playing up the shark attacks on Anna Maria, when in fact the victims brought these attacks on themselves. Both cases were merely ‘curious’ tastings, and not a true shark attack. The media needs to report this inn a responsible matter, and not sensationalize ‘Shark week on Anna Maria’.
Do you lift up a golf club when lightening is near? Do you go in the ocean “downstream” from a fisherman[so does a shark]? Nuff said.