Diver Hospitalized After Possible Shark Bite Near Cape Florida

File Aerial image of the Cape Florida lighthouse, January 2018 (Adobe/Felix Mizioznikov)

A male diver in the ocean near Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park was taken to Ryder Trauma Center after what he said was a shark bite Saturday morning, authorities said. 

“The diver appeared to be in stable condition when he was transported,” said Erika Benitez, a spokeswoman for Miami Dade Fire Rescue. She said first responders categorized the injury as necessitating a “trauma alert,” involving an upper extremity. But she said helicopter transport was not used.

Benitez added that boaters had radioed ahead and a unit from the county’s fire rescue station in Crandon park made the transport to Ryder. She said the diver told fire rescue that the bite happened on his first dive of the day. 

“They said nobody was on scene with him. The people who transported him to shore did not know him,” Benitez said. 

A hospital spokeswoman could not provide any additional information. 

According to data from the International Shark Attack File, Florida had 50% of U.S. shark attacks in 2018, with 16 unprovoked cases. Those cases, however, were significantly lower than the most recent average of 30 unprovoked attacks a year. 

Researchers differentiate between unprovoked attacks and provoked attacks where a human initiates interaction with a shark in some way. 

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information from Fire Rescue.