Shark Drags woman into water by her finger

The 34-year-old Perth woman was standing on the back of a yacht in Dugong Bay in the remote Kimberley Region, around 250km north of Broome, when she tried to handfeed four tawny nurse sharks swimming nearby.

“It happened so quickly. All I could really focus on was the fact that my finger is gone,” she told 7 News. “It clamped on it and it felt like it was shredding off the bone.

“I came up and I was like, ‘I’ve lost my finger’. I couldn’t even look at the finger because I thought if I looked at it and saw it was gone, I’d probably go into shock.”

Nurse sharks are slow-moving bottom-dwellers that are generally harmless to humans, according to National Geographic. But the magazine notes they can be huge — up to 4m — and have strong jaws filled with thousands of tiny teeth. The sharks will bite defensively if stepped on or if they feel their space is being invaded.

The good news was her finger was still attached to her hand — she sustained cuts, a fracture and a torn ligament, but it was still intact.

The bad news was it soon became badly infected, and Melissa had to go to hospital as soon as she got back to Perth.

But she took full responsibility for the incident, telling the West Australian it was “completely my fault” and “just a blond doing a stupid thing”.

“It’s not the shark’s fault at all, but it could have been a lot worse,” she told the paper. “I’m not a shark victim … I have full respect for sharks, I think they’re incredible.

“I’ve always had the opinion that when you’re in the water, they’re top of the food chain — it’s their domain.”


full story
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/a-shark-dragged-this-perth-woman-into-the-water-by-her-index-finger/news-story/30b0bd39e2785ab817f6bd3b57b46e6f

What idiot feeds a shark by hand?


Fun fact! I caught a baby shark once when I went fishing in the Maldives.

it generally fine, but generally you move your hand
feeding a nurse shark is probably safer or about the same as feeding a large dog

It was the silly girl's own fault -- as she herself readily admitted...

The same kind of accidental mauling can just as easily happen when hand-feeding horses or dogs, if someone leaves their hand or fingers in the wrong position..

Feeding any wild animal by hand has its risks. I wouldn't go near a shark let alone feed one!.

Like hand feeding a lion by hand, one bite and you've become his next meal.