Further details have emerged about the rescue of a man who was bitten by a shark off the coast of West Waterford.

The incident happened aboard a small fishing vessel south of Ardmore shortly after 4pm yesterday.

The Irish Coast Guard coordinated the response, with Rescue 117 and lifeboat crews from Ballycotton and Youghal RNLI tasked to the scene.

The man suffered an injury to his leg following the shark bite and was airlifted to Cork University Hospital for treatment.

No other people on board the vessel required assistance.

Eolan Walsh, Coxswain with Ballycotton RNLI, was among those who responded to the incident.

He said Rescue 117 was already preparing to winch the casualty when the two lifeboats arrived.

‘When ourselves and Youghal lifeboat arrived on scene, Rescue 117 had already prepared winching operations,’ he said.

‘Youghal lifeboat took up a standby position on the starboard side of the casualty vessel, to give a reference to the helicopter, and we remained behind all units just monitoring.’

The man was subsequently transferred by Rescue 117 to Cork University Hospital, where he was handed over to the care of the HSE.

Image above: Sebastian Achim/@universalfishing25