Man attacked by alligator near Silver Springs amusement park

OCALA, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - Emergency responders in Marion County transported a man who received traumatic injuries from an alligator bite.  It happened late Tuesday afternoon near the Silver Springs amusement park just outside of Ocala.  The attack did not happen inside the park but in the Fort King canal, an area which is off limits to the general public and set aside for park storage and research.

Photo Gallery (courtesy Marion County Fire Rescue)

The victim, 55-year-old Peter Butt, is a diver with the St. Johns River Water Management District .  He was flown to Shands Hospital in Gainesville . 

Witnesses said the man was diving with another individual and taking water samples when he was bitten in the neck by the alligator. 

"When we found him, he had lacerations to the neck, and possibly a broken jaw," said Miranda Iglesias, spokesperson for Marion County Fire and Rescue.

Butt was able to thrash lose from the alligator's grip and was pulled to safety.  He was conscious when emergency crews arrived, but listed in critical condition.

"If anybody could survive something like this, it's Pete," Eric Hutcheson, one of Butt's colleagues. "Pete's a big, strong man."

Hutcheson said the two divers were researching the pollution levels in the springs as it relates to the Floridan aquifer. Butt was tracing dye through the different channels of the spring, to see which ones were connected. The actual attack occurred at a service boat dock, where there are small springs throughout the area.

"My assumption is that this alligator was hiding under one of the old boats that doesn't move and has been sitting there for years," said Hutcheson, who indicated that the two divers were aware of the presence of the alligator, which was described as over 10 feet long and over 20 years in age. "Very mature, large, fat, fat, very fat alligator."

Under the supervision of the Florida Fish and Wildlife and the Marion County Sheriff's Office, trappers captured the alligator early Tuesday evening. It was measured at just shy of 12 feet in length and weighed approximately 500 to 550 pounds. Joy Hill, spokesperson with FWC, said the alligator will be harvested for meat and hide by the nuisance alligator trapper, as is FWC policy for nuisance gators.

Diver attacked by alligator | Originally Reported By: MyFoxOrlando.com