Just a friendly reminder that you should never but your fingers near the business end of a shark, even if it is typically docile species such as nurse sharks.
Melissa Brunning found that out the hard while on vacation this week in Dugong Bay off the coast of Northwest Australia. Brunning was attempting to hand feed a seven-foot tawny nurse shark when the fish latched onto her fingers and pulled the 34-year-old tourist off of the boat’s dive platform and into the water.
“It’s not the shark’s fault at all, but it could have been a lot worse,” Brunning told the Western Australian.
Brunning was fortunate to not lose any appendages but did suffer lacerations, a torn ligament and a fractured bone in her finger.
“I have full respect for sharks, I think they’re incredible,” she said. “I’ve always had the opinion that when you’re in the water, they’re top of the food chain—it’s their domain.”
Tawny nurse sharks are a species of carpet shark that are commonly found in shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Although they can reach lengths of up to 10 feet, they are considered extremely docile and pose little threat to humans. The tawny nurse shark has very small teeth when compared to its overall size and prefers to use suck up its prey from the ocean floor using a vacuum-like suction.