A tragic incident unfolded in the Bahamas as a woman from Boston lost her life following a shark attack while paddle boarding with a family member. The unfortunate event occurred on Monday, as revealed by the police during a news conference broadcasted by Reuters. The woman and her male relative were paddle boarding at a resort approximately three-quarters of a mile from the shore when a shark attacked, causing fatal injuries.
Sergeant Desiree Ferguson, the spokesperson for the Royal Bahamas Police Force, shared details of the incident. A vigilant lifeguard on duty witnessed the attack and promptly set out in a boat to rescue the pair. Despite immediate CPR efforts, the victim sustained severe injuries on the right side of her body, including the right hip region and her right upper limb, as stated by Ferguson.
The identity of the victim remains undisclosed, and emergency responders declared her deceased after detecting no vital signs. This tragic occurrence follows another shark-related fatality just a day earlier, where a 26-year-old woman lost her life after a shark bite in Mexico while swimming with her young daughter.
While shark attacks are infrequent in the Bahamas, there has been a recent surge in reported incidents. In the preceding month, a 47-year-old German woman went missing during a diving trip off West End, Grand Bahama, after encountering a shark. Additionally, in June, a woman from Iowa suffered a shark attack while scuba diving in the Bahamas, leading to the amputation of her leg.
The Bahamas witnessed another shark-related fatality in September 2022, when a U.S. tourist, a 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania, was killed by a bull shark while snorkeling. The incident occurred near Green Cay during an excursion from the Harmony of the Seas cruise ship. Despite being transported to a local hospital, the victim did not survive.
The East Coast and the Caribbean Sea are home to over 50 shark species, including tiger, hammerhead, and Caribbean reef sharks, according to NOAA. Data from the International Shark Attack File reveals a total of 108 alleged shark-human interactions worldwide in 2022. The U.S. reported the highest number of confirmed unprovoked attacks, with 41 incidents, and Florida recorded the most within the country, accounting for 16 cases.
