'Small Shark' Bit His Leg, Annapolis Paddleboarder Says

EDGEWATER, MD — Chris Bowen's daily paddleboard excursion on the Rhode River near Edgewater took a dicey turn Wednesday when he felt something hit his leg as a tail fin appeared in the water and a gray object swam away. Blood oozed from dozens of punctures on his lower leg, in the pattern of what Bowen says it likely the bite of a small shark.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is reviewing the photos Bowen sent them of his battered leg, and says the wounds could have come from a catfish. He disagrees and hopes a marine biologist will side with his take on it.

"I don't believe it was a catfish. I've put my hands in many catfish mouth and they do not have teeth like that," Bowen told Patch. "Probably just a small shark."

The avid Annapolis paddleboarder, who said he'll be back out on the water Thursday afternoon, has kept a sense of humor about the painful encounter. "I didn't think it was a shark because I didn't hear any music lol," he messaged.

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Bowen posted photos of his injury on his Facebook page, which drew comments on whether he might have run across a bull shark, and the inevitable "Jaws" references.

"I think you're gonna need a bigger paddleboard," said one of his friends.

A less sympathetic poster said, "You will live, rub dirt on it."

“We advised the gentleman that it could be a catfish or a shark,” Candy Thomson, DNR police spokeswoman, told the Capital-Gazette. The pectoral and dorsal fins of a catfish can cause injure anyone in the water, she added.

Commercial fisherman Larry "Boo" Powley accidentally caught a 310-pound, 8.6-foot-long bull shark off Cedar Point in St. Mary's County recently. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources says the bull shark — known to consume fish, sharks and rays in fresh and shallow waters — is a summertime visitor to the Chesapeake Bay.

The shark was caught on Powley's net trap at the mouth of the Patuxent River on Monday. "I've been on the water for 42 years," Powley, 65, of Hoopers Island, told the Capital-Gazette. "I've never seen one that big."

Photos of bite marks used with permission from Chris Bowen