I was attacked by sharks & dragged underwater in the Bahamas – it felt like I was being punched when they bit into me
A FISHERMAN who was mauled by a shark revealed how it felt like he was being punched as razor sharp teeth pierced his flesh.
Marlin Wakeman, from Florida, feels “lucky” to be alive after he slipped off a dock, plunging into shark-infested waters and being dragged underwater.
The 24-year-old was was at the Flying Fish Marina in Long Island on April 26 when he tried to jump to the docked boat he was working on.
After falling into the water Marlin was immediately set upon by a group of fierce predators who began feasting on his knee.
“When I ended up in the water, I pretty much knew what was going to happen,” he told Florida reporters on Thursday.
He said that the marina is often overrun with so many sharks that you could almost “walk on their heads” and falling in was something he always “kinda thought about.”
He added: “Me and my buddies were talking about like, man, if you fell in here, like, you are done. You’re not even going to have a second to really react.”
Recalling the nightmare ordeal the fisherman said about the first bite: “He grabbed me, pulled my head underwater and then let go of me.
“I got really lucky he didn’t head shake or hold on for a while.”
Another shark then bit into his shoulder and at that point the adrenaline kicked in and Marlin knew if he didn’t act he would die.
Fortunately the young man was was able to haul himself back onto his boat where the boat’s captain tied a tourniquet on his leg.
“I had so much adrenaline going through my body that it was like a fight or flight kind of thing,” he explained.
“I got back into the boat and kind of assessed what happened and looked at my leg. It wasn’t really bleeding yet. It was kind of, you know, all mangled.”
He said that it felt like “a punch” when the shark bit his shoulder, adding: “You really don’t feel the teeth going in.”
He was later flown to Florida for surgery at St. Mary’s.
Dr. Robert Borrego said the shark punctured Wakeman’s kneecap and just missed an artery. The trauma surgeon estimated the shark to be about 7 feet (2 meters) long, based on the size of the bite mark.
It wasn’t really bleeding yet. It was kind of, you know, all mangled
Marlin Wakeman
Borrego said he expects Marlin to make a full recovery.
Despite saying he may have some “nightmares” following the attack Marlin isn’t going to hang up his fishing rod just yet and said he’d be returning to the water as soon as possible.
Caribbean reef sharks
- The Caribbean reef shark is one of the largest apex predators in the reef ecosystem and are about three meters long
- They are estimated to live for longer than 14 years
- Their diet includes bony fish, large crustaceans and cephalopods
- They can be found throughout tropical waters particularly in the Caribbean Sea.
- They have four to six pups per litter
- They mainly inhabits shallow waters, but they have been recorded at depths of 29 meters