On Tuesday, a recreational boating outing off Ireland’s southern coast ended in a medical emergency after a man sustained a suspected shark bite roughly four miles offshore from Ram Head, Ardmore in County Waterford. The injured man was one of five people aboard a 5-meter pleasure craft that called for help when the incident unfolded.
The alarm was first raised with Dublin Coast Guard, which issued an assistance request to Ballycotton RNLI at 16:16 local time. By 16:30, Ballycotton RNLI launched its all-weather Trent-class lifeboat, the Austin Lidbury, with calm waters and clear visibility allowing the crew to reach the incident site by approximately 17:10. Multiple emergency and rescue agencies mobilized quickly to the scene, including the Irish Coast Guard’s Rescue 117 helicopter, plus both Ballycotton and Youghal RNLI lifeboat crews.
By the time the Ballycotton team arrived, both Youghal RNLI and Rescue 117 were already on location alongside the affected pleasure craft. The injured man was lifted from the small vessel via winch onto Rescue 117, with the two RNLI lifeboats standing by to support the operation. The casualty was then airlifted to Cork University Hospital, where he remains in care as of the latest updates.
Following the operation, the Ballycotton RNLI crew returned to their home harbor by 18:15. After refueling the lifeboat, the all-volunteer crew went on to complete their pre-scheduled weekly training session, highlighting the organization’s constant state of readiness for maritime emergencies.
Eolan Walsh, on-duty coxswain for Ballycotton RNLI, praised the seamless collaboration between all responding teams. “This was a well-coordinated multi-agency response, with Ballycotton RNLI, Youghal RNLI and Rescue 117 working together to ensure that the casualty received urgent medical assistance as quickly and safely as possible,” Walsh said.
He also used the incident to issue an urgent safety reminder for all people heading offshore. “Incidents such as this are a reminder that conditions at sea can change quickly and that anyone heading offshore should make safety a priority,” he explained. He urged mariners and recreational boaters to confirm their vessel is suited to expected conditions, wear properly fitted lifejackets or personal flotation devices, carry reliable communication equipment, and share their route and expected return time with a contact on shore before departing.
This latest suspected shark bite is not the first recorded incident of its kind along the Irish coast. In 2018, a Belfast angler suffered severe injuries to his lower arm after he caught a blue shark and was bitten while pulling the animal aboard his fishing boat. Crosshaven RNLI based in Cork responded to that 2018 incident to provide emergency assistance to the injured man.