Man airlifted to hospital after shark attack off Irish coast

Videos of the aftermath have been circulating online

As per RTÉ, a man was airlifted to hospital after being bitten by a shark yesterday, before the attack was confirmed and made public today.

The outlet reported that the Irish Coast Guard was alerted to the incident at around 4.15pm on Tuesday, 11 August.

The attack is reported to have happened off the coast of Co Waterford in southern Ireland, on board a small vessel south of Ardmore.

A spokesperson said a man on board the fishing vessel had a leg injury inflicted by a bite from a shark.

In a statement, they said: "The Coast Guard's Waterford based helicopter, Rescue 117, was tasked to the scene, as well as the Ballycotton RNLI all weather lifeboat and the Youghal RNLI inshore lifeboat.

"The man was winched on board... Rescue 117 and taken to Cork University Hospital and handed over into the care of the HSE.

"He's still in hospital."

A spokesperson for Ballycotton RNLI said: "Ballycotton RNLI was involved in a multi-agency rescue operation yesterday, Tuesday 11 August, following a report of a person suffering a shark bite while on board a pleasure craft off the Waterford coast.

"At 4.16pm, Ballycotton RNLI was requested to launch by Dublin Coast Guard to assist a 5-metre pleasure craft with five people on board, approximately four miles off Ram Head, Ardmore. The call formed part of a coordinated response involving Ballycotton RNLI, Youghal RNLI and Irish Coast Guard Helicopter Rescue 117.

"Ballycotton RNLI’s all-weather Trent-class lifeboat, The Austin Lidbury, was launched at 4.30pm. With calm sea conditions and good visibility, the lifeboat arrived on scene at approximately 5.10pm. Youghal RNLI and Rescue 117 were already at the casualty vessel.

"Both lifeboats remained on standby while the casualty was winched from the vessel by Rescue 117 and transferred for emergency evacuation to Cork University Hospital.

"The remaining members of the group did not require assistance, and the casualty vessel subsequently returned safely to Dungarvan. Both lifeboats were then stood down. Ballycotton RNLI returned to harbour at approximately 6.15pm, where the lifeboat was refuelled before the volunteer crew continued with their scheduled weekly training session."

It is not currently known what species of shark attacked the man, but videos claiming to be from the incident have been circulating online.

These are particularly gory and feature a lot of blood, so viewer discretion is heavily advised for anyone going searching for the videos.