MIAMI — Kevin Blanco, 20, is an avid fisherman.
He and two friends went to their regular spearfishing spot Thursday in the Florida Keys, never thinking he'd end the day in a hospital.
"I saw a dream fish of mine, so I shot the fish and the fish got tangled all up in the rocks," Blanco said Monday from his hospital bed in Miami.
Knowing the fish's blood could attract sharks, Blanco used the buddy system to go 70 feet deep to try to retrieve the fish when he was bitten.
"The shark just blindsided me, bit me in the leg twice – my left, outer leg," Blanco said.
His friends helped him swim to the surface, get on the boat and, as one called 911, the other made a tourniquet to help save his life.
Monroe County Sheriff's Office deputies said less than 48 hours after Blanco's attack, a 35-year-old man was bitten in the foot by a shark in Summerland Key.
Yannis Papastamatiou, an associate professor at Florida International University, said it's hard to determine the driving force behind these shark encounters.
Region St Lucie County
Girl, 13, says shark 'went straight to me' after surviving attack
"You can't say just because we've had three bites this month, that means this is an unusual event," he said.
Papastamatiou said sharks are in South Florida waters year-round and it's important to be vigilant.
"These are spectacular animals, and I realize not everybody may like them, not everybody appreciates them, but the fact is they have a very important role, and in most places they have more to fear from us than vice versa," he said. "We are starting to see perhaps evidence of the shark population coming up in Florida, but that's a good thing. Sharks in the water is a sign of a healthy ocean."
Blanco, who is expected to make a full recovery, said his friends were a bit shaken up, but he's hoping to get back in the water soon.
"Who's going to get bit by a shark twice?" he said.
