A Florida man was attacked by an alligator while he was swimming and looking for prehistoric megalodon shark teeth in a river.

The Florida man, identified as Tampa resident Jeffrey Heim , was searching for shark teeth to make into jewelry in the Myakka River when the alligator attacked him.

He was only in the water for a few minutes when he was hit with such force that he thought it was a boat's propeller, NBC News reported.

Jeffrey Heim said he then realized he was inside the mouth of the alligator, and if the animal did not decide to let him go on its own, there was nothing he could have done to free himself from it.

He saw four people nearby and asked for help. Paramedics then arrived within minutes, according to a Fox 13 News report. Heim had thirty-four staples and a mild skull fracture. 

The Florida man believed that the alligator that had attacked him was about nine feet long and was likely a female. He added that it was possibly looking to protect her eggs.

Jeffrey Heim noted that as an experienced diver and commercial fisherman, he should have known to avoid the Myakka River during alligator mating season, Click Orlando reported. He said that it was their territory, and he did not weigh the risk to the rewards.

The Florida man noted that he intends to stick diving in the Gulf of Mexico. He added that he never cried so much in his life as he realized that he was an inch away from death.

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Alligator Attack

Unprovoked alligator attacks occasionally happen. However, most are preventable, and the fatality rate is low, with around four percent of alligator attacks on humans in the U.S. have resulted in death, which mostly happened in Florida, according to a Crocdoc Fact Sheet.

Some of the attacks can be attributed to territorial alligators or nest defense. It was also reported that the risk of a fatal alligator attack is low compared to other relative risks of preventable injury-related fatality in Florida.

Several factors could be attributed to an increase in the number of adverse alligator encounters in Florida. These factors include populations of American alligators are increasing. 

In addition, more people move to the coastal and freshwater environments of Florida, which also increases the interactions between humans and alligators.

Alligators are generally less than four feet in length and are not large enough to be dangerous unless handled. However, if you encounter any alligator that might pose a threat, the public is advised to call the Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 866-FWCGATOR (866-392-4286).

Authorities said the public should also not swim outside posted swimming waters or in waters that might be inhabited by large alligators.

It is also not advisable to swim at night as alligators are most active between dusk and dawn. Pets should also not swim near water that may contain alligators, as dogs often attract an alligator's interest.

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