Paramedics ultimately took the woman — with the dead shark still attached to her arm — to Boca Raton Regional Hospital on Sunday afternoon, according to Boca Raton Ocean Rescue. A nurse shark bit a woman on the beach Sunday afternoon in Boca Raton. They are about 1 foot in length at birth and grow 4 to 6 inches a year in length, less as they get larger. Adults are commonly 8 to 9 feet long and mate in Florida waters from May to July. Wes Pratt, Mote Center for Shark Research Knowingly or not, people swim near nurse sharks every day without incident. Attacks on humans are rare but not unknown and a clamping bite typically results from a diver or fisherman antagonizing the shark with hook, spear, net, or hand. "The bite reflex is such that it may be some minutes before a quietly re-immersed nurse shark will relax and release its tormentor," according to a National Park Service brochure prepared for visitors to Florida waters. "The small teeth seldom penetrate deeply but are razor sharp. "Holding still reduces damage to both shark and man. Leaving sharks alone is the best tactic."
– A Florida woman hospitalized for a shark bite Sunday didn't need to describe the shark that bit her—because it was still attached to her arm. The 23-year-old woman had been bitten on the right arm by a small nurse shark that wouldn't let go even after a bystander killed it, the Palm Beach Post reports. A Boca Raton Regional Hospital spokesperson tells the AP the woman was treated and released on Sunday afternoon, having presumably had the 2-foot shark removed from her arm. Witnesses say before the bite, the shark had been antagonized, possibly by the woman and her companion, who were seen near a submerged rock pile where nurse sharks are known to hang out. People were "holding the shark by its tail. They were messing with it," 11-year-old Nate Pachter, who had been snorkeling nearby, tells the South Florida Sun Sentinel. The species has a strong bite and large numbers of very sharp teeth, but it is so laid-back it is "considered the 'couch potato' of the shark world," according to the National Park Service. "Attacks on humans are rare but not unknown, and a clamping bite typically results from a diver or fisherman antagonizing the shark with hook, spear, net, or hand," an NPS fact page states. "The bite reflex is such that it may be some minutes before a quietly re-immersed nurse shark will relax and release its tormentor." (On the other side of the country, countless tiny red crabs are washing up on California's beaches.)