A 37-year-old Jordanian man was attacked by a shark Tuesday while paragliding in Jordan's Aqaba Gulf, a short distance from Eilat.
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Video circulating on social media after the attack showed the shark bite into the man's leg as he hovered above the water. The victim was rescued within minutes and taken to a nearby hospital, where his leg was amputated.
A shark attack in the gulf is extremely rare, especially since large sharks rarely attack people, for it is not part of their natural diet.
Adi Barash, chair at Sharks in Israel environmental conservation organization, said that based on reports, it was most likely a shortfin mako shark, commonly found in Eilat waters.
"To date, we have identified 14 shark species in the Gulf of Eilat that live in the wild," she said. "Based on the shark's color and jump, it is most likely a mako shark, also known as the blue pointer. There are no known instances of such shark attacks in the Gulf of Eilat. It is incredibly rare. The last time something like this happened was 40 years ago."
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