Shark Kills US Tourist Snorkeling In Bahamas

A bull shark, pictured in the Bahamas.
A bull shark, pictured within the Bahamas.
Gerard Soury by way of Getty Pictures

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A shark attacked and killed a U.S. cruise ship passenger who was snorkeling in waters across the Bahamas on Tuesday, in keeping with authorities.

The incident concerned a 58-year-old girl from Pennsylvania and occurred at a well-liked snorkeling spot close to Inexperienced Cay within the northern Bahamas, police spokeswoman Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings informed The Related Press.

“It’s unlucky,” she mentioned.

Skippings mentioned the lady’s household recognized it as a bull shark.

Royal Caribbean Worldwide mentioned in a press release to the AP that the individual died after arriving at a neighborhood hospital for therapy and that the corporate helps their family members. They mentioned the visitor was collaborating in an impartial shore tour in Nassau and had been crusing on Concord of the Seas, which is on a seven-night journey after departing Florida on Sunday.

The vast majority of shark assaults within the Caribbean have occurred within the Bahamas, with two reported in 2019, one in all them deadly. That incident concerned a Southern California girl who was on trip and was attacked by three sharks close to Rose Island, situated only a half mile from the place Tuesday’s attacked occurred.

In December 2020, a deadly shark assault was reported within the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin, the primary such incident in that area.

Total, no less than 32 shark assaults have been reported within the Bahamas since 1749, adopted by 13 assaults in Cuba throughout that point interval, together with one in 2019, in keeping with the Florida-based Worldwide Shark Assault File.

Michael Heithaus, a marine biologist at Florida Worldwide College in Miami, mentioned in a telephone interview that the excessive variety of assaults within the Bahamas is probably going linked to the truth that there are lots of people within the water in that space and that it has a strong marine ecosystem.

He mentioned the Bahamas has quite a lot of shark species, nearly all of which don't take note of individuals, apart from bull sharks and tiger sharks.

“They get to very massive sizes, they usually eat huge prey,” Heithaus mentioned, including that sharks have unbelievable sensory methods and may be interested in meals, sounds and smells within the water.

However total, shark assaults stay uncommon, he harassed.

Worldwide, there have been 137 shark assaults final yr, 73 of them unprovoked, in keeping with the Worldwide Shark Assault File.

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