Video footage of a particularly unusual and devastating shark attack is doing the rounds on social media. The clip shows a shark leaping out of the water and biting off a man’s foot while tandem parasailing in the Red Sea.
The footage, taken on Friday, shows the 37-year-old Jordanian man hovering just above the ocean water when the shark emerges and attacks, biting him in the leg.
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According to the DailyMail UK, the victim lost part of the back of his foot, which also severed tendons, tore muscles and broke several bones.
The man was taken to Prince Hashem Military Hospital for surgery and is reported as being stable.
Mohammad Qatawneh from the Aqaba International Dive Centre told local media that shocking attacks by sharks in the Gulf of Aqaba are rare. He added that the media attention received from the video has scared a lot of people.
“I’ve been diving for 20 years and this is the first time I’ve heard of a shark attack,” Qatawneh said, as per the USA Reporter.
“There are many types of sharks. We have reef sharks, guitar sharks, and many other types but none are dangerous.”
While sharks are found in all areas of the sea, their presence in the Aqaba region is very uncommon, according to Mohammed Khalil Al Zabada of the College of Marine Sciences.
“Sharks are found in all the seas of the world, and in the Red Sea there are many types of sharks, but their presence in the Aqaba region is very rare,” he said to Gulf News.
Attacks of this nature are more common further south, off the Egyptian coast.
A 12-year-old boy was attacked by a shark in October 2020, losing an arm, while the Egyptian tour guide accompanying the child later had his leg amputated after an encounter with a Oceanic Whitetip shark.
Additionally, a 42-year-old German woman was bitten by a whitetip shark near Marsa Alam in Egypt just two months later.
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Video and screenshot: USA Reporter