A man was bitten by a shark at Merimbula Main Beach in New South Wales, Australia on January 4.
Mitchell Collins was swimming in water around 32 to 49 feet (10 to 15m) deep from the shore when he was bitten.
The 20-year-old and his cousin Jayden had been swimming but were in waist-deep water around 6 p.m. when he was bitten.
“I had my feet on the ground, I went to step and as I did it bit my foot,” Collins told the Illawarra Mercury.
“I knew it was a bite straight away and it knocked me down. It felt really sharp but it wasn’t that painful and I was in shock I think.
“I didn’t see it but I got a good feel of it.”
After he was bitten, Jayden felt the shark brush against his leg.
Jayden said, “He [Mitchell] jumped, lifted his foot up and said ‘shark,’ then it brushed my leg.”
“When he said it I didn’t think about it because I didn’t know if he was serious or not.
“It felt really weird, pretty slimy and pretty big.”
The 19-year-old believes the shark that bit Collins was a 5- to 7-foot long (1.5 to 2m) bronze whaler.
Jayden and Collins left the water and the beach was cleared.
Collins was taken to South East Regional Hospital by his parents where he received 10 stitches to close the lacerations that appear to be on his left foot.
There have been a total of 2 shark attack bites in 2017, none were fatal; 1 was reported in the US, with 1 occurring in Florida. One occurred in Australia, none of which were fatal.
One reported with no injury.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 shark attack bites tracking map.
