Photo: Gerald Schombs//Unsplash
A Mexican marine biologist working off the coast of Coasta Rica was bitten in the head by a shark this week. As CBS News reports, 48-year-old Mauricio Hoyos had been leading an expedition for the One Ocean Worldwide Coalition when the incident occurred.
According Costa Rica’s Fire Department, they rescued Hoyos on Saturday on Cocos Island. The island is roughly 340 miles off Costa Rica’s Pacific coast, necessitating a 36-hour journey to return to the mainland.
“He was tagging species for monitoring and when he tagged one of the island’s shark species, the shark turned,” said fire department physician Luis Fernández. “It was about four meters long with an enormous bite force — it turned and bit him on the head.”
From there, Hoyos was taken to a hospital in the country’s capital. Despite extensive injuries to his head, face and arms, he was in stable condition upon arrival.
“Incidents like this are extremely rare,” said Alex Antoniou, executive director of Fins Attached – a group that is part of One Ocean Worldwide. “Dr. Hoyos is an extraordinary scientist who has dedicated his career to shark conservation, and we are deeply grateful for the support of the Cocos Island community in this very difficult time.”
