The victim was on an organized trip from Penzance to snorkel with blue sharks – one of the many species that visit the UK during the summer months – when the ‘crazy incident’ happened last Thursday. The person is believed to have suffered a leg injury, according to HM Coastguard, who met them at Penzance Harbor to help them reach paramedics. In a statement released by the tour company, Blue Shark Snorkel Trips, the victim was quoted as saying: “Despite how the trip ended, it was amazing to see such majestic creatures in the wild and I don’t want a single moment of this horrible event to tarnish the reputation of an already persecuted species”. They added: “What was a very scary incident was made much easier by the kindness and calmness of the people around me. “Thank you to the trip team for getting me back to shore quickly and carefully and making me feel as safe as possible. We all take these risks when we enter a predator’s habitat, and we can never fully predict the reactions of a wild animal.” The company said it “immediately implemented the emergency response plan, with first aid provided to the person involved”, adding that the person “departed the vessel” to receive further treatment ashore following advice and assessment by coast guard. “We have tried to understand why it happened and are in ongoing discussions with shark experts,” the tourism company wrote on Facebook. Shark attacks are indeed very rare in British waters, with only around 10 occurring since the 1800s, according to a database. It records just one fatal incident, involving a swimmer near Hornsea exactly a century ago, since the first recorded attack in 1785. The most recent brush with a shark involving any human risk is believed to have occurred in 2017, off the South Devon coast near Bantham, where a surfer reportedly walked away with a simple bruise to his leg and a cut to his hand of from “where [he] punched it.” Paul Cox, chief executive of the charity Shark Trust, told the Independent at the time: “Personally I wouldn’t describe it as an attack because it creates an impression that is out of context. It’s an interesting and slightly unusual incident involving one of the 30 or so types of sharks we’re lucky enough to have in British seas.”
