A young couple accidentally filmed the horrific moment a Canadian tourist was killed in a “shark attack” on a beach in Mexico.
Joseph “Jeff” Bynens, 76, was swimming in the ocean when he was attacked by the predator on Dec. 14.
He was reportedly rescued from the water with his legs missing and died of excessive blood loss on Ixtapa Zihuatanejo Beach.
Initial reports said Bynens was killed by a shark, but his injuries led authorities to suspect it may have been a crocodile. His partner was also attacked by the same animal and is currently being treated at a local hospital.
Video of a young mother playing with her daughter on the beach apparently captured Bynens' final moments. Officials say the clip could potentially shed light on which animal attacked him.
Marlene Luviano was playing with her young daughter on the beach last week when her partner accidentally filmed the horrific moment a tourist was killed in a “shark attack.”
Joseph “Jeff” Bynens, 76, was swimming in the ocean when he was attacked by the predator on Dec. 14. He was reportedly rescued from the water with most of his leg missing and died of excessive blood loss on the beach in 2009 at Ixtapa Zihuatanejo
Initial reports said Bynens was killed by a shark, but his injuries led authorities to suspect it may have been a crocodile
The clip shows Marlene Luviano playing with her little daughter on the beach last week. She had asked her partner to film the visit to the beach because it was her daughter's birthday.
In the background, Bynens can be seen swimming to a buoy and waving his arm in the air for help, before he is presumably pulled under the waves by the sea predator.
Luviano realizes something is wrong and leads her daughter away from the shore. She then asks her partner to stop filming.
“We were enjoying the morning on the beach and we heard something in the ocean,” she explained.
By the time the victim was rescued from the sea, he had already “bleeded to death,” according to Luviano.
She said: “When they pulled him out of the sea, the wound was already clearly visible.” “I noticed that there was no more blood coming out.”
Authorities are still investigating whether the Canadian tourist was killed by a shark or a crocodile.
A 52-year-old Los Angeles woman was seriously injured after being bitten by a shark or a crocodile in a separate attack along Mexico's Pacific coast.
The attacks occurred here, in Playa Quieta, in the southern state of Guerrero, on Mexico's Pacific coast
Officers are seen on the beach on Mexico's Pacific coast following the horrific attack
An officer holds a purple flag indicating to swimmers that dangerous marine life has been spotted in the area
Playa Quieta was closed following the horrific attack as the Navy searched the water for the animal and witnesses reported seeing drones in action
According to the civil protection office in the southern state of Guerrero, both the 76-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman were bitten on the legs by an unknown animal.
According to local reports, the Los Angeles woman was bitten on the legs around 9:15 a.m. on Playa Quieta, near a hotel in the Zihuatanejo district.
About five minutes later, the same animal struck again, this time fatally.
The man was reported dead at the scene while the woman was taken to a hospital where she is expected to recover. State officials confirmed the man was from Belgium, while local reports said the woman was American.
Both sharks and crocodiles live in the area. El Pais reports that civil defense is looking for a shark, but has not ruled out a crocodile as the culprit.
However, Zihuatanejo Mayor Jorge Sanchez Allec said the victims' bites led him to believe a crocodile was responsible.
A crocodile invaded a beach in Zihuatanejo, Mexico last Friday, sending swimmers scrambling to safety
According to one report, the tourist's leg was ripped off by the creature. That report said the man's wife told authorities that a shark was responsible.
Playa Quieta was closed following the horrific attack as the Navy searched the water for the animal and witnesses reported seeing drones in action.
Environment and Natural Resources (Semaren) Minister Ángel Almazán Juárez told the media that shark sightings are rare in the region.
Last Friday, a crocodile was spotted on El Palmar beach, about four miles south of where the fatal attack occurred.
Stunning footage showed the moment the crocodile entered the beach last week, scaring off visitors and forcing a lifeguard to guide the animal back into the sea.
In early December, a Mexican woman died after being badly bitten in the leg by a shark off the beach town of Melaque, west of the port city of Manzanillo.
A graphic video appeared to show the aftermath of the attack as María Fernanda Martínez Jiménez, whose leg was torn off, lay in the sand after being helped out of the water off Melaque Beach in Jalisco state.
Horrified onlookers shouted “she's lost her leg” as they waited for emergency teams to arrive on Saturday morning.
The 26-year-old was carried to the shore by three beachgoers, but died just a few minutes later as a result of a massive bite wound.
The dead woman was identified locally as a 26-year-old tourist named Maria Fernandez Martinez Jimenez, a former marine biology student at the University of Guadalajara
According to local reports, Martínez Jiménez helped her daughter get to safety by placing her on a floating platform after realizing she was in danger while the couple swam 65 feet from the beach. He remained unhurt in the attack.
Local authorities launched an investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the attack and assess security measures in the coastal area.
In 2019, a US diver survived a shark bite to the forearm in Magdalena Bay off the coast of Baja California Sur.
According to the International Shark File, there have been 40 shark attacks in Mexico since 1907, including 12 in Guerrero.