Diver bitten by shark to be released from hospital

Surgery on fish farmer’s partially severed hand successful

Erez Lev, the diver who was bitten by a shark Sunday at a fishery at the Ashdod port, is expected to be released from hospital in the coming days following successful surgery.

Lev, 27, was working with a colleague at a warren of undersea fish cages when he was bitten by the shark and his right hand was partially severed. His colleague pulled him out of the water and he was taken by boat to the nearby port, where he received first aid.

He was then transferred by Magen David Adom to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital for further treatment. Doctors said they could not recall an Israeli being bitten by a shark in at least the last 20 years.

The Sunday incident was not the first time sharks were sighted off Israel’s shores.

In April 2012 two amateur fishermen accidentally caught a 2-meter long shark in Ashdod, and in 2005 sharks were captured in the area on two separate occasions.