

One incident involved a man in his 60s, injured as he kicked the shark away. There have been two other recent unconfirmed reports of shark bites in Alma Bay, possibly by the same species of shark. As he was exiting the water, he was also bitten on the left calf. cookiecutter shark Photo: Jennifer StrotmanĬookiecutters, also known as cigar sharks due to their elongated shape, are known to bite larger prey including humans and whales.Īccording to the University of Florida, the first confirmed attack on a human occurred March 16, 2009.Īs a long-distance swimmer attempted to cross the Alenuihaha Channel from Hawaii to Maui after sunset, he was bitten on his chest.

The shark uses its lips to latch onto prey, then uses its sharp bottom teeth to excise flesh as it spins and sucks the flesh into its body. The 73mm long circular wound ( graphic image), which was nearly down to the bone and exposed fatty tissue, appears to have been caused by a cookiecutter shark.Ĭookiecutter sharks received their name based on their crater wound bite pattern, which looks similar to a cookie cutter impression. When the shark latched onto Jack’s leg, his father quickly kicked it away and out of the water, but not before it had bitten a chunk of flesh Jack’s right calf. Things changed dramatically when the shark aggressively bumped against his leg and moved toward Jack. The 7-year-old’s father first spotted the small shark as it swam near him and even referred to it as a friendly fish. Jack Tolley was wading with his family in Alma Bay in North Queensland October 27, when a circular chunk of his leg was torn off. A rare shark bite has been reported in Queensland, Australia.
