‘There was no reason for the shark to stop,’ says Martin Richardson, recalling the terrifying moment a mako bit him approximately five times before an unlikely hero came to the rescue.
Naturally, Martin assumed he was dead when he was bitten by a shark while swimming in Egypt’s Red Sea, at the same place where a tourist was murdered by a tiger shark just weeks before.
Martin discussed his encounter with a shark for a new documentary, Saved From A Shark, for National Geographic’s SharkFest, which begins later this month.
The film follows shark attack survivors who find salvation in – wait for it – dolphins and whales.
Martin is one among those who believes he is still alive today because of certain aquatic heroes.
‘I had lost approximately five pints [2.8 litres] of blood,’ he said.
‘You only have eight to nine [pints, or 4.5 to five litres] in your body.
‘I was waiting for a feeding frenzy… I knew it was circling me… I turned away and looked at the mountains. I gave up.’
However, just when Martin believed he was doomed, a pod of dolphins approached and the onslaught came to an abrupt halt.
He was then dragged aboard a boat and transported to the hospital, where he required over 300 stitches.
‘I firmly believe the dolphins saved my life,’ he said.
Martin isn’t the only survivor of a shark attack in the video who believes he wouldn’t be alive today if dolphins or whales hadn’t rescued him.
Marine biologist and shark conservationist, Tom Hird, however says: ‘Being saved by another animal is certainly a very romantic notion.’
Mike Heithaus, professor in the department of biological sciences at Florida International University, added it’s highly unlikely dolphins were intentionally saving Martin from a shark attack.
‘The dolphins see a big cloud of blood, they know a shark is in the area,’ he said, explaining they would subsequently be protecting their own young from danger.
‘They may not have been trying to save Martin.’
Nan Hauser, on the other hand, is certain that in 2017, a humpback whale carried her atop its snout and protected her from a tiger shark assault.
‘[The whale is] looking at me and I know he’s got something to tell me,’ she recalls.
‘I do not understand. He wants me to understand. I look down into the deep blue. And I then I see [the tiger shark] right below me.
‘I know — and the whale knows — this is a serious situation and I want to get out of the water. Then all of a sudden I was swooped up by the whale… now he’s got me right on the front of his face.’
Saved From a Shark is available to stream on Disney+ National Geographic now.
Source My Celebrity Life.
