Expatica.com is reporting that Friday’s reported “shark attack” on an 11-year-old British girl at Sant Salvador de El Vendrell beach is now actually believed to be a bluefish attack. According to the report, “maritime experts later concluded that the bite suffered by the girl was too small to have been caused by a shark and was compatible instead with the marks that would be left by a bluefish.”

A blue shark had been seen, prior to the attack, 20 miles away from Sant Salvador de El Vendrell. In a knee-jerk reaction, maritime police caught and a killed a blue shark in the area after the attack, prior to the “shark attack” being debunked. Neighboring beaches were closed after the non-shark attack but have since been re-opened after maritime police patrolling the beaches found “no signs of bluefish.”

The knee-jerk tactics of attempting to hunt sharks down after a supposed attack is utterly absurd given the scientific information available today about shark attacks on humans. It’s also ridiculous to think that bluefish are no longer in area where bluefish live, as if a rogue bluefish swam in from some mystical bluefish hiding spot to bite someone and then left the area. The thought of maritime police patrolling for bluefish is comical, at best. No word on whether or not the police were able to sleep soundly after executing the wrong perpetrator.

Here’s to hoping that the 11-year-old victim of the bluefish bite heals up quickly and is able to enjoy the rest of her vacation. An animal bite which requires stitches is no less severe regardless of the species.