A victim of his own curiosity, a Florida man says he got too close to a shark on a recent photo shoot.
Mark Rackley's shark bite on April 13, 2015, near Sugar Loaf Key, Fla., left a nasty scar.
Courtesy of Mark RackleyMark Rackley, a shark videographer, told the Miami Herald that he knew he was following the shark too closely when he spotted it April 13 but couldn't help himself. He was near Mile Marker 20 of the Overseas Highway through the Florida Keys.
"I've never seen a blue shark in the Keys before," Rackley said of the specimen he estimated to be 8 to 9 feet long.
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When the shark clamped onto his shoulder and bicep, he dropped his camera and grabbed the animal, which immediately let go, the Herald reported.
The wounds required 58 stitches, according to the New York Daily News.
Even while being bitten, the Big Pine Key resident said he was thinking to himself, "What a beautiful shark."
Kathy Roy Rockett, Rackley's office manager, posted on Facebook: "Mark has been healing very well and so far no infection, just a nasty scar!"
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Rockett said Rackley would return to underwater filming in a couple weeks.
Although shark attacks and bites are uncommon, Florida last year reported 28 incidents out of 72 confirmed cases worldwide, according to the International Shark Attack File at the University of Florida, the Herald said.
