Shark knocks man off his hydrofoil surfboard and savages him in the water in rare attack off Spanish holiday island
The horrifying incident happened two miles west of Fuerteventura, where sharks have been spotted on several occasions
The man was practising the relatively new sport of Downwind foiling, which involves a hydrofoil surfboard that hovers a few feet above the water.
Spanish TV channel Antena 3 reports that the man was in the water when the shark attacked his board and bit him on the leg.
The media outlet published a video showing two bloody gashes just below the knee. The wounds were described as 'deep' and gave rise to panic.
No details were given about how the man fought off the shark, but he was able to get back to the shore in the area of Los Molinos, a small hamlet nestled between cliffs on the west coast of Fuerteventura, popular with tourists and locals.
Sharks have been spotted before off Fuerteventura, and beaches have had to be closed when jet ski patrols raised the alert over the sea creatures near the shore.
Last September, a 30-year-old woman died from her injuries after her leg was ripped off by a shark in the middle of the ocean as she was on a catamaran off the coast of Western Sahara.
The woman, who was said to be a crew member aboard the British-flagged catamaran, died after going for a dip in the sea.
She was rushed to a hospital by Spanish Air Force helicopter following the attack, which took place 278 miles south-west of Gran Canaria's airport.
However, the woman was pronounced dead after being evacuated to nearby Doctor Negrin Hospital, located in the Gran Canarian capital of Las Palmas.
Since records began, there have been only seven recorded instances of shark attacks on humans in the Canary Islands.
None of them have been fatal.
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