Young boy bitten by shark amid spearfishing trip with dad
Manni Alam, 8, was presenting the fish he speared in open waters near Queensland, Australia, when a small shark appeared to propel itself to the surface and bite the child.
A boy in Australia appears to have been bitten by a small shark after spearing a fish, and the moment was caught on film.
Radwan Alam, the father of 8-year-old Manni Alam, was with his son as he was placing his spearfishing catch on the side of a boat near the central Queensland coast in Australia, according to FOX Weather.
"Manni, show me what you got," a man can be heard saying in the video, which has been posted to the family’s huntmaster.io TikTok account.
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Almost immediately after Manni brought his catch to the surface, a shark appears to propel itself out of the water and grabs hold of the young spearfisher’s upper torso with its mouth – missing the fish that was seemingly its target (SEE THE VIDEO at the top of this article).
Manni Alam, 8, holds onto the side of a boat in Australia, as seen in a TikTok video gone-viral. (@huntmaster.io via TikTok)
The video has been viewed more than 19 million times since its original upload on Sunday, Jan. 29.
Fox News Digital reached out to Alam for comment.
Manni appeared to be unharmed and proceeded to joke with his father and gut fish in follow-up videos that were shared to the huntmaster.io account.
Commenters have mostly commended Manni about his bravery and poked fun at the shark’s misfire.
"Lil bro didn't even flinch," one TikTok user wrote.
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"Kids gonna live off that story for the rest of his life," one commenter wrote. "And the shark is gonna get bigger every time he tells it!"
"Shark is like ‘we trade a child of the sea for a child of the land,’" another TikTok user quipped.
"[Luckily] it was a baby shark do do do do do dooo," wrote one TikTok user.
Alam hashtagged the term "shark attack" in the caption of the viral video.
Manni Alam, 8, of Australia, got the surprise of a lifetime when a small shark seemingly attempted to steal his spearfished catch and accidentally bit him. Follow-up videos shared by his father show the young boy appears to uninjured. (@huntmaster.io via TikTok)
Others who commented were skeptical on whether the video was real or fake.
"I thought it was real at first but you can’t fool me. Yes I know it’s a real shark but it’s dead," one person wrote.
"yea you can tell the shark is being thrown towards the kid, not biting or going after the fish," another TikTok user replied.
"There’s no way a diver would’ve been able to launch the shark out of the water that fast," a commenter argued.
This week, Alam, Manni and their friend Moe Alsayed appeared on Today Show Australia, where Alam insisted that the video is real. Alam also said that sharks are "a common occurrence" while diving.
Shark attacks, or shark bites on humans, are categorized into "provoked bites" – when a human initiates interaction – and "unprovoked bites" – when a human doesn’t initiate interaction – according to an online Shark Attack FAQ published by the University of Florida’s Florida Museum.
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Experts at the museum say unprovoked bites can take the form of a "hit-and-run," which typically happens near beaches and occurs when a shark makes one grab, immediately releases and leaves the area.
Other forms of unprovoked bites reportedly include "sneak bites," which typically happen in deep waters where the victim can’t see the shark, and "bump-and-bites," which typically happen when a shark circles a target and bumps the victim with its head or body before biting one or more times.
More than 700 unprovoked shark attacks have been recorded in Australia since 1900 and more than 170 of those attacks have resulted in fatalities, according to Australia Wide First Aid, a nationally accredited first aid solution company.
"Shark attack statistics show that Australia is the deadliest location in the world when it comes to shark attack fatalities," the first aid company wrote in a report about shark attacks in the country.
Local news stations in Australia have identified the small shark Manni Alam encountered in deep waters (shark from TikTok video not pictured) to likely be a blacktip reef shark. (iStock)
From 2012 to 2020, 148 unprovoked shark attacks reportedly occurred in six regions of Australia, according to Australia Wide First Aid, which cited data from the Australian Shark Attack File created by Taronga Conservation Society Australia.
Eighteen of those recorded attacks have resulted in fatalities.
Beach activities, watersports and various forms of fishing remain popular in Australia despite shark attack statistics.
Shark experts at the Florida Museum and other sea life organizations maintain that shark attacks are rare and seldom result in death.
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The Florida Museum’s latest Yearly Worldwide Shark Attack Summary reports that the U.S. had a higher number of unprovoked bites in 2021, compared to Australia but overall had a lower fatality rate with 47 bites and one fatality compared to 12 bites and three fatalities.
While TikTok users appear to be fascinated by Manni’s apparent fearlessness when it comes to sharks, the young spearfisher has joined his father on other fishing adventures.
Recent videos shared to the huntmaster.io account show Alam and Manni wrangling in what looks to be a billfish. They have also gone diving for cod.
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The huntmaster.io account is connected to Huntmaster.com, an Australia-based speargun, wetsuit and spearfishing accessory company.
