A shark famous for its deadly bite mauled a champion freediver in the middle of his training. 

The oceanic whitetip bit Cristian Castaño during his practice off the coast of Nirvana in San Andrés, a Colombian island in the Caribbean Sea.

The attack on Cristian, who holds multiple national records in the sport and is a member of the Colombian freediving team, took place in the crystal clear waters at around midday on Tuesday.

He was training ahead of the AIDA Freediving World Championship in Roatán, Honduras, between August 19 and 27 this year.

Several oceanic whitetips appeared during the training session, with Cristian bitten on the leg.

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Representatives of the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina were in the area at the time and were able to help the freediver escape. 

He was rescued in a boat and taken to the coast to undergo treatment at a nearby health centre.

Cristian later posted to social media to confirm he was “fine”. 

He shared a picture of the aftermath of the brutal attack, wearing bandages while in hospital.

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He added the shark had probably bitten him “out of curiosity”.

A Coralina spokesperson said: “It is important to remind the community that sharks are in their natural habitat and it is humans who enter their domain.

“Therefore, we must have greater respect for nature and take precautions for this type of encounter.”

According to Smithsonian, the oceanic whitetip shark is particularly powerful during feeding frenzies.

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It was dubbed “the most dangerous of all sharks” by former French naval officer Jacques Cousteau.

Marine Biologist Michael L. Domeier said oceanic whitetip sharks are “one of the least understood”, “least studied” and “most ignored” shark species on the planet.

Mr Domeier told Nine.com.au: “Oceanic whitetip sharks have probably killed more people on the planet than any other shark that we know.”

They are also suggested to be the breed of sharks who ate the dead, wounded and survivors of the USS Indianapolis after it sunk in 1945 – known as one of the worst shark attacks in history.

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