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KEY WEST, Fla. — A tourist from Romania was bitten by a shark on Jan. 8 while swimming at a beach in Key West, Florida, authorities said.
According to the Key West Police Department, Nicolae Cioban, 34, was swimming near the Outer Mole of Fort Zachary Taylor Historic State Park at the southern tip of Key West, the Miami Herald reported.
Police said that at about 2 p.m. EST, what “appeared to be a large shark” caused Cioban to suffer lacerations to his thigh, knee and calf area.
Cioban, who could not be reached for comment, walked to an ambulance and was taken to an area hospital, the Herald reported. His injuries were not considered to be life-threatening.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement that it could only “confirm there was an unknown marine life encounter” that day at Fort Zachary Taylor, according to the newspaper. Alexandra Kuchta, a spokesperson for the agency, told the newspaper that park rangers “closely monitored the water, but did not observe any sharks.”
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