The man who was bitten by a shark on the leg on Miami Beach walked out of the hospital Thursday on his own two feet.
Mark Bowden, who was in South Florida on vacation from California, was bitten by a blacktip shark Wednesday near 10th Street and suffered an 8-inch laceration below his knee.
"Something didn't feel right. It didn't feel like I got bit, but it didn't feel normal either," Bowden told reporters outside of Jackson Memorial Hospital.
The city of Miami Beach says double red flags were posted that day warning swimmers to not go in the water, but Bowden says he didn't see the flags.
At one point, he got out for 15 minutes because somebody thought they saw a shark fin. But when Bowden went back in the water, that’s when a shark tried to take a chunk off his leg. Bowden says he didn't realize that when it actually happened.
"I was in shock. Super confused," he said. "I felt lucky I didn’t see a ton of blood."
Video after the shark attack shows Miami Beach Ocean Rescue giving aid to the victim. Bowden's girlfriend is seen in the video elevating his leg.
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"Luckily it didn't hurt. It didn't hurt at all," Bowden said. "I hear shark teeth are like surgeon scalpel blades ... I think it was a mix of that and adrenaline. I didn’t feel anything."
Mahmood Shivji of Nova Southeastern University says we could see more sharks in the water this time of year.
"Blacktip sharks and spinner sharks, these relatively small sharks, are migrating south because it’s getting colder up north and so there tends to be more of them this time of year down in South Florida," Shivji said.
Footage from Chopper 6 showed schools of fish swimming near shore. Shivji warns that when you see a school of fish, head towards the shore and out of the way of possible danger.
"We are entering into a national habitat that’s the home for sharks," he said. "This is where they live. They don’t come onto land to buy us so we should respect them. And we should respect their space and keep an eye out. But again it’s such an uncommon occurrence."
Bowden said he saw the schools of fish Wednesday.
"I think the biggest thing anybody can take away from this is that if there's a lot of fish -- schools of fish -- in the water, I wouldn’t get in," he said.
