Man Bitten By Shark Off Haulover Beach
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HAULOVER BEACH (CBSMiami) -- Cell phone video shows the moments following a shark bite off Haulover Beach Sunday afternoon.
Miami-Dade Fire Ocean Rescue said a man in the water suffered bites to both legs.
"We went ahead and controlled the bleeding with pressure bandages. It was able to be controlled that way. We packaged him ready for transport by fire rescue," said Lt. Grace Mangas with Miami-Dade Fire Ocean Rescue.
It was about 3: 30 p.m. when someone spotted the shark off shore.
Lifeguards immediately began evacuating swimmers. A man in his 40s or 50s was bitten just as he was getting out of the water. The shark, fortunately, did not bite the main blood vessels.
George Burgess, a shark expert with the University of Florida, says incidents like these are rare.
"Sharks are not after human beings on a regular basis. We're not marine animals. We're not in the sea all the time so we're not part of the food chain and sharks have their preferences just as we do as humans," said Burgess.
Rescue crews said, if you plan to go in the water, always stay near a lifeguard station and be aware of your surroundings.
"The beach is here for us to enjoy. We're not a shark attack capital. We're not like Hawaii and Brazil and we, you know, are pretty safe here. We just need to heed the warnings and be aware of our surroundings," said Mangas.