Just when you thought it was safe to rinse.
A Florida fisherman was bitten by a shark and pulled out of his boat and into the water in the Everglades on Friday.
A video posted to social media shows the man dipping his hands into the water to wash them off. The fisherman's friend warns him against washing his hands in that manner, saying: "I wouldn’t put your hands in there.”
“Ah, two seconds won’t do anything,” the fisherman replies before dipping his hands back in. In under two seconds, a large shark leapt out of the water and bit the man's right hand, pulling him overboard as he screamed.
Another man on the boat can be heard yelling "get him!" multiple times. The shark let go almost immediately, and the victim was able to get himself back onto the boat with the help of his friends.
After the group returned to dry land, the victim was airlifted to the hospital.
Michael Russo, who took the video and posted it to Instagram, wrote: “Today was one of the scariest days on the water I have ever had. It started off great and we were crushing the fish but the sharks were eating some our fish despite our best efforts. After releasing a snook Elarjan washed his hands in the water and was immediately bit by a large bull shark. There was no chum or blood in the water and the sharks were unprovoked."
"The sharks are no joke in the Everglades and the warnings about keeping your hands out of the water are not an exaggeration. Please take this as a lesson and keep your hands out of the water because this could have been prevented. He was rushed back to the dock and the park rangers were a lifesaver (literally). He was airlifted to the hospital and is in the best care possible,” he advised.
While Russo claimed the attacking shark was a bull shark, authorities now believe it was a lemon shark.
Both bull sharks and lemon sharks can move into freshwater and can be found in the Everglades, though the bull shark ventures farther up rivers. Both are large species that can grow longer than 10 feet, with the bull shark being slightly larger. Bull sharks are regarded as one of the two most dangerous shark species between their unusually aggressive nature for a shark, ability to swim far upriver, and powerful bite, which is the strongest of all sharks. Lemon sharks are far less dangerous, with only ten confirmed unprovoked attacks on humans before Friday, all in Florida and the Caribbean.
The Florida Everglades are home to several large predators which could be dangerous to humans, including the American alligator, American crocodile, eastern diamondback rattlesnake as well as other poisonous snakes, black bear, Florida panther, and invasive python species which can reach 20 feet in length.