Instagram model bitten by shark in the Bahamas: 'Next thing I knew I was underwater'

An opportunity to "connect with nature" turned into a frightening shark-biting incident for an Instagram model.

Katarina Zarutskie, a nursing student in Miami with nearly 28,000 Instagram followers and her own blog, was enjoying a trip to the Bahamas last month when she decided to swim with a group of nurse sharks.

"A lot of locals that were just excited, and encouraging me to swim with them," Zarutskie, 19, said in an interview that aired Wednesday on "Good Morning America.” "I saw it as an opportunity for me, another chance to connect with nature."

Instead, it turned into one of the scariest moments of her life when Zarutskie floated on her back in the water and one of the sharks bit her wrist.

“When he bit me, supposedly it sounded like a big vacuum seal sort of sound," she recalled. "Next thing I knew I was underwater and I felt this."

Zarutskie said she immediately headed for the stairs to get out of the water, holding her bloody arm above her head to keep it out of the water.

"Adrenaline was kicking in and I just knew I needed to get out of the water," she said, leery of riling up the sharks with blood in the water.

Zarutskie, a Southern California native, said doctors told her it could have been much worse. She was left with only a scar on her wrist.