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A woman in South Florida is believed to have been the victim of a very rare barracuda attack. The incident occurred at a beach in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and she was treated on the beach before being transferred to Broward Health North.
The barracuda fish is an often feared fish due to its size and huge, sharp teeth. Most Floridians are taught from the earliest ages to not wear any shiny jewelry into the ocean because barracuda are attracted to the shine and can mistake it for the flash of fish scales in the sun.
These ambush predators can reach up to 6 feet and they are FAST. I watched a 5+ foot one leap 10 feet out of the water last Summer when going after a yellowfin tuna on my line near an oil rig in Venice, Louisiana. But barracuda attacks are extremely rare and fewer than 1 every 4 years occurs, making this a particularly rare event in the Sunshine State.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, witnesses heard the barracuda attack victim screaming in the water and reported a disturbing amount of blood. One witness told NBC 6 “I was sitting in my chair and a young lady started screaming loudly out of the water and she was swelling her arms and she was holding her left arm. One of these guys ran out to help get her out of the water and then someone yelled for a towel because she bleeding pretty profusely.”
Another witness said the victim “was screaming for help and I was the first one to pull her out of the water. The wound, it was just a chunk out of her forearm.”
Barracuda are commonly found throughout Florida. Most often, they hang around the edges of reefs and wait for the chance to snipe a fish out in the open water. Fishermen loathe them for this reason because just like sharks, barracuda often bite fish in half before fishermen can get them to the boat. Here are some barracuda facts for the uninitiated:
As an ambush predator, they act quickly. Case in point, this video which went viral last year of a barracuda charging this guy jumping off a boat. All the fish knew was there was a commotion and that potentially meant a meal:
The identity of the victim at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea has not been released. But this is a perfect time to remind everyone go practice safety when in the water. Remove silver/platinum/diamond jewelry before going in the water if you don’t want to tempt fate and potentially capture the attention of a barracuda fish.