An Air Force helicopter crew was scrambled over the high seas 206 nautical miles from Póvoa de Varzim yesterday after a 43-year-old fisherman was bitten by a blue shark.
The incident happened onboard the Filipa Miguel in the early morning. The shark appears to have been pulled up in trawling nets and attacked the fisherman from the deck.
The bite provoked “uncontrolled haemorrhaging with loss of leg muscle”.
Crew members sounded the alert, but due to the distance from shore, maritime police called in the Air Force.
The rescue chopper reached the Sesimbra-registered boat by late morning, and the injured fisherman was winched up and transported to Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro airport en-route to Hospital de São João.
Radio Onda Viva has since heard from the president of fishermen association Pro-Maior Segurança dos Homens do Mar that the “case is not as serious” as the captain of Filipa Miguel had initially feared.
The injured fisherman remains interned in hospital.
For a video of his dramatic winch to safety, click here: Dramatic sea rescue after Portuguese fisherman bitten by blue shark
An Air Force helicopter crew was scrambled over the high seas 206 nautical miles from Póvoa de Varzim yesterday after a 43-year-old fisherman was bitten by a blue shark.
The incident happened onboard the Filipa Miguel in the early morning. The shark appears to have been pulled up in trawling nets and attacked the fisherman from the deck.
The bite provoked “uncontrolled haemorrhaging with loss of leg muscle”.
Crew members sounded the alert, but due to the distance from shore, maritime police called in the Air Force.
The rescue chopper reached the Sesimbra-registered boat by late morning, and the injured fisherman was winched up and transported to Porto’s Francisco Sá Carneiro airport en-route to Hospital de São João.
Radio Onda Viva has since heard from the president of fishermen association Pro-Maior Segurança dos Homens do Mar that the “case is not as serious” as the captain of Filipa Miguel feared.
The injured fisherman remains interned in hospital.
For a video of his dramatic winch to safety, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=AzpTUQw4jZw
