Paul Smith was on a work break at the Fountain pub in Tenbury Wells, England, when he decided to give Miami, a black-tipped reef shark, a special treat of prawns in the 3,000-gallon shark tank in the pub's restaurant.
Miami usually dines on squid and mussels. This time he had the prawns, and a nibble of human to chase it down.
When Miami and the two other sharks got a whiff of what was being offered, they charged across the tank toward Smith.
"Within a second," the chef said, "the water was churning like the shark attack scene in the 'Jaws' movie, and my hand was in the middle of it."
"Miami did most of the damage," Smith said. "He was hanging off my finger, and I was howling."
Russell Allen, who operates the pub, which is about as far from the sea as you can get in England, took his chef to a hospital. Smith was logged in as the victim of a "shark attack" and was released after getting six stitches to sew up the deep cuts.
"It could have been very nasty," Smith said. "I've learned my lesson. I'll admire them from afar from now on."
Allen recently had the tank installed for the benefit of his customers, who he said enjoyed watching the three sharks – reef sharks can grow to 6 feet in length – cavort, especially at dinner time. The accident with Smith has done nothing to change his mind.
Since the sharks' arrival, the pub manager said, "seafood sales have gone up 40 percent."
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