What is it like to be bitten by a shark?: originally appeared on Quora: The best answer to any question. Ask a question, get a great answer. Learn from experts and access insider knowledge. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Answer by Michelle Roses, Rescue Diver/PADI, Shark Diver, Wreck Diver
I've been bitten. By Carcharhinus limbatus. A Black Tip shark.
It hurts. Not by a Great White or a Bull shark, to be clear. That would hurt much more. And I wouldn't have my hand. I do, by the way.
I was bitten by a juvenile black tip, one of the sharks found all over the East Coast. They're also the ones in the below video currently circulating of a shark "feeding frenzy" in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, our barrier islands.
All sharks have serrated teeth to "saw through" their prey, so they can not only pierce flesh, but rip it off bones. They shake their heads back and forth to use those teeth, which are razor sharp.
Black Tips like to be in warm, shallow water off the coast, which is why they are often found on reefs in the Caribbean and in the Southeast United States.
I was reaching down to release my leash on my surfboard, standing in shallow water less than two feet deep. The surf wasn't too high, maybe 3-4 feet, but storms had churned up the ocean bottom, making the water murky.
I felt like someone had brushed sandpaper against my leg then, suddenly, I felt a severe, sharp pain on my hand and a hard shake. I looked down. Blood was gushing out. The only thing I saw was a small dark fin swimming away. Black tip.
I knew I'd been bitten.
I somehow stayed calm, dreading the moment I would pull my hand out of the blood-swirled water. I knew I needed to focus, so I flexed my hand. It hurt, which was great. I had a hand. I tentatively wiggled my fingers and felt a popping and pain through to my finger tips. I had tendons and fingers.
Slowly, with closed eyes, I pulled my hand out of the water. It looked like thin layers of onion had been placed over my fingers from the knuckles closest to my fingertips, down. The shark had shredded the thin skin and opened up the tops of my fingers.
The skin underneath looked bloody and raw, but there was no bone. I just kept reminding myself of all the parts I still had, counting my fingers over and over again as I ran up the beach to the lifeguard station.
I threw open the station door and shouted, "I've been bitten, but I have all of my fingers!" A guard grabbed a towel and put it over my shoulders. I think I was in shock a little. I showed the guard my bite. "Whoa, lucky it was a little baby," was the first thing he said. I nodded, trying not to shake from the adrenaline as waves of nausea threatened to bring up my lunch.
The lifeguard wrapped my hand in a loose towel. The bleeding stopped pretty quickly and I was taken to the hospital.
My hand looked ragged, like I'd put my hand through a paper shredder. The pain was intense, a stinging and burning, but tolerable for the ride to the hospital thanks to the IV in my other arm.
The shark had gotten my knuckles while my hand was in a fist, but didn't break through anything vital, like tendons. Fortunately, this little guy's mouth wasn't big enough to hang on. It slipped off, shredding only skin. X-rays showed no bones had been crushed.
If this had been a large juvenile, I probably would have lost fingers as more of my hand would have entered the shark's mouth. As it happened, my instinct was to yank away rather than flex my fingers when I felt the sting of the shark's serrated teeth puncture my skin. If a larger shark had bitten down, covering more surface area, I may have flexed, not yanked, losing my fingers. An adult shark could have taken my whole arm, yanking it from the shoulder.
A plastic surgeon was on call, so I got hundreds of perfect, tiny, stitches which took a long time. The doctor was very careful to clean the wounds really well. It looked horrible, but I felt so lucky.
I wish I had a great photo of my injury and the scars, but it happened before iPhones and the scars have faded well -- thank you plastic surgeon!
I still surf and boogie board whenever I'm at the beach. I also scuba dive. My favorite dives I've been on included my encounters with sharks. I even participate in shark feeding dives -- with Black Tips.
I don't blame sharks and I'm definitely not afraid of the water. I think they are beautiful, misunderstood animals who've gotten a bad reputation from Hollywood and misplaced fear.
This is the reality.
I love sharks. Of course, I have all my fingers and toes, but shark bites are not the sharks' fault. We're coming into their home. We can look like food, a turtle or seal, when we're on a board. Sharks make mistakes sometimes, especially when visibility is poor, like in murky water near shore.
The feeding frenzies, "alarming photos of sharks close to shore," and shark bites have always been there, always happened. We just have the technology to report it, show it, and record it now.
I was surfing in the late afternoon, in murky water. Prime hunting time for a shark and was mistaken for food. I probably looked like a turtle or otter on my board. I made quick movements underwater, like kicking and moving my hands, which attracted the shark. It's a case of mistaken identity.
Shark bite aside, I can't wait to go to the beach this summer. I'm planning on spending lots of time in the ocean. I'll keep my eyes peeled and be aware, but most likely, there will be a shark or five close by. Where else would they be but in the ocean?