A cruise ship passenger on a popular “swim with the pigs” excursion in the Bahamas is suing Norwegian Cruise Line after being bitten by one of the animals, requiring stitches and painful post-exposure treatment to fend off the possibility of developing rabies, according to a civil negligence complaint reviewed by The Independent.

New York resident Jason Gordon had been enjoying a vacation aboard the 4,200-passenger Norwegian Escape last summer when he signed up to participate in the popular activity during a port call at the line’s private island, Great Stirrup Cay, states the complaint, filed August 5 in Miami federal court.

“It’s not known exactly why or when pigs were introduced to [the Bahamas], but it will become obvious that their descendants have thrived,” Norwegian’s marketing materials tell guests about the side trip, which starts at $197.99 ($159.99 for children). “Once you wade into the shallow waters, you can expect the pigs to follow, knowing that food awaits. The guide will show you how to feed the pigs and the best ways to interact with them while swimming. The pigs couldn’t be friendlier, cuter or more enthusiastic about the attention.”

But Gordon’s complaint says things quickly went sideways for him as he mingled with the supposedly docile animals, who have roughly a quarter-million followers on Instagram.

Gordon was “interacting with the pigs as invited and expected by NCL,” when one of them clamped his jaws down on him unexpectedly, “causing a laceration and puncture to [his] right lower leg,” the complaint contends.

Once Gordon got home four days later, the complaint says he “sought emergency medical treatment, where the laceration was closed with sutures, [he] was administered intravenous antibiotics, and… was required to undergo a course of rabies post-exposure prophylaxis, including administration of rabies vaccine and rabies immune globulin.”

The remainder of the trip was ruined for Gordon, who has endured “physical pain, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, disability, [and] disfigurement” that is “permanent or continuing in nature,” according to the complaint, which does not say whether or not he visited the ship’s doctor immediately following the bite.

Norwegian did not respond to a request for comment.

The first inhabitants of Great Stirrup Cay were the Lucayans, an Arawak-speaking Taino tribe who settled the Bahamian archipelago around 600 to 700 AD.

In the 17th century, Great Stirrup Cay became a refuge for high-seas pirates, and was taken over by British slave traders in the early 1800s. The island was transformed into an American military outpost during World War II, later serving as a U.S. Air Force satellite tracking and navigation installation.

The now-defunct Belcher Oil Company, a Miami-based petroleum distributor, then took possession of Great Stirrup Cay for oil exploration and as a potential corporate retreat that never came to be. Belcher began leasing a portion of Great Stirrup Cay in 1977 to Norwegian Cruise Line, which bought the island outright in 1986 and developed it into a day-trip destination for its passengers.

On August 26, 2025, Gordon – while cruising the Caribbean aboard the Norwegian Escape – signed up for the “Swimming Pigs Tour,” according to his complaint, which says he booked the activity at ship’s shore excursion desk onboard the Escape.

However, the complaint goes on, Norwegian’s “promotional material and information did not contain adequate warnings and/or reviews from other passengers about negative experiences and/or prior incidents, including the risk that the pigs bite, injure, and/or transmit disease to participants.”

Pig bites and scratches can expose excursionists to bacterial infections and waterborne parasites from swine feces and urine present in the water. Tourists can swim with pigs at numerous locations throughout the Bahamas; though the Centers for Disease Control warns that even healthy-looking pigs can carry diseases such as leptospirosis, cryptosporidiosis, and ascariasis.

Earlier this year, a Florida man reportedly contracted a flesh-eating bacterial disease and nearly died after scraping his ankle while swimming with pigs in the Bahamas.

In 2025, a New York woman claimed she had been battling a parasitic roundworm infection for more than a half-decade following a Bahamian pig-swim during which she held a piglet up to her face.

When wild pigs get hungry, they can also be aggressive. Fitness model Michelle Lewin made headlines in 2019 after she was bitten on the derriere by a swimming pig during a commercial shoot in the Bahamas.

Beyond the purported health risks, animal rights advocates have raised concerns about the treatment of the pigs, calling the proliferation of swimming excursions “out of control.”

Gordon’s complaint claims the Swimming Pigs Tour was “unreasonably dangerous, and/or was not competently operated by properly trained and/or supervised persons.” It says Norwegian failed to provide “adequate warnings” about the risk that the pigs may “bite, injure, and/or transmit disease” to guests, and that there was nothing Gordon “could have done to prevent the subject incident.”

According to the complaint, Gordon would not have gone swimming with the pigs had he known about the possible health risks.

As a result of Norwegian’s alleged negligence, Gordon was “injured about [the] body and extremities,” suffered “physical handicap,” and was unable to work for a period of time, the complaint alleges.

“In addition,” it says, Gordon “lost the benefit of [his] vacation, cruise, and transportation costs.”

He is now seeking a money judgment for damages to be determined by a jury.

Gordon’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.