What began as a routine free-diving trip off Florida’s coast ended with a bull shark bite for a veteran spear fisherman—just minutes after reassuring his visiting family not to worry about the famed predators.

Chance Armand, 28, who started spearfishing in 2020, took up free diving this year and said that even though sharks are a normal occurrence, “nothing crazy” usually happens.

“You run into them, you catch a glimpse of each other, and they might try and punk you for your fish, but they don’t actually do anything about it,” Armand told Fox News Digital.

Chance Armand, 28, was attacked by a shark while spearfishing off the Florida coast. (Photo courtesy of Chance Armand)

“It just blew up from there,” he said. “I’m just kind of taking the opportunity with the attention to bring light to the abundance of sharks we have in the Florida waters. I’d love to see the culture change on sharks in Florida. If you harvest a shark, and you take care of the meat properly, it’s great table fare. 

“We have a lot of sharks in the water, so it’s not like we’re in danger of hurting the population at all, especially when it comes to bull sharks. They’re a dime a dozen out there, we see them every single time we go out. I’d love to see people look at them as more of a renewable resource, just like any other fish in the water, that can be responsibly managed and harvested as food.”

Undeterred by the attack, Armand said he plans on returning to his ocean hobby once he is fully recovered.

“Hopefully, once the stitches are out, I’ll be back in the water for grouper season, starting on Sept. 1,” he said. “Just as long as I get the green light from the doctor that I’m not going to catch some gnarly infection or something. … I’m a little too dumb to quit. 

“In the future, I’ll definitely not just assume that the sharks aren’t going to go all the way when it comes to stealing a fish. They have telltale signs when they’re in pursuit mode, like fins down, [so I will] just try and pay more attention to body language.”

An Escambia County spokesperson told Fox News Digital it received a 911 call about the incident, but Armand was assisted by fire personnel at Naval Air Station Pensacola.

NAS Pensacola did not immediately respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.