A newlywed from Boston was mauled to death by a shark while paddling at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas the day after her wedding.
The unidentified 44-year-old was killed at 11:15 a.m. local time on Monday morning while three-quarters of a mile off the coast of the five-star Sandal Royal Bahamian Resort with an unidentified male relative.
Her paddleboard was then pictured floating in the water. The victim suffered horrific injuries to the right side of his body and attempts to revive him with CPR were unsuccessful.
Debra DeWeese, who spent part of Monday in sandals, said other beachgoers told her they heard the woman’s screams as she was attacked.
Grim photos and videos shared afterwards showed the victim’s covered body being brought back to the beach on a stretcher and then loaded into an ambulance.
Mortuary workers transport the body of a tourist after what police say was a fatal shark attack in waters near the Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort
The woman’s paddleboard floats in the water outside the Sandals Resort after Monday morning’s fatal shark attack
Royal Bahamian Police Sergeant Desiree Ferguson told reporters: “Shortly after 11:15 a.m. police were notified that a visitor from Boston, Massachusetts, USA, was attacked by a shark.”
“Our initial reports indicate the female was paddling with a male relative just behind a resort in western New Providence, approximately 3/4 mile offshore, when she was bitten by the shark.
“A lifeguard on duty who witnessed the incident went out in a lifeboat, picked up the victim along with the male relative and brought them to safety. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on the victim.
“However, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body, including the right hip area and also the right upper extremity.”
“Emergency medical services responded to this accident, thoroughly examined the victim and determined he was demonstrably showing no vital signs of life.”
She added that it took a few hours to pull the woman inside before they went out in the wheelchair to collect the man, believed to be her husband.
“I can’t imagine what the husband is going through,” DeWeese, who had a day pass from a cruise, added in a Facebook post.
Rescue workers gathered on a pier outside the Sandals resort on Monday after the fatal shark attack
DeWeese noted that “the staff and some guests are somewhat traumatized.”
Police said a lifeguard rescued both people with a boat when he saw what was happening, but the woman suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body and was pronounced dead at the scene despite resuscitation efforts.
It was not immediately clear what type of shark attacked the woman, although tiger sharks and bull sharks are known to live off the coast of the Bahamas. A police commissioner did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Gavin Naylor, program director for the International Shark Attack File in Florida, said in an interview that several shark-related deaths have been reported in the Bahamas over the past five years.
He noted that there is a “huge” tourist population in the Bahamas, adding that there are a lot of people in the water and many visitors who want to watch sharks from a fishing boat or dive with them.
“So the sharks get used to it and the animals are a little less cautious than they would otherwise be,” he said.
The unidentified victim was attacked less than a mile from the western end of New Providence Island, where the capital Nassau is located
She was paddling with a man believed to be her husband, who police Sgt. remained uninjured. Desiree Ferguson
Between 30 and 40 shark species live around the Bahamas, with the Caribbean reef shark, bull shark, tiger shark and blacktip shark having the highest bite frequency, Naylor said.
“Usually it’s an accidental bite.” “They think it’s something else,” he said. “Every now and then they actually single people out, and that’s very intentional.”
Fatal shark attacks are rare, with only five to six cases reported worldwide each year, most of which occurred in Australia, said Naylor.
According to the International Shark Attack File, there were a total of 57 unprovoked bites worldwide last year, most of them in the United States.
At least 33 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1580, ranking the island ninth in the world, according to the filing.
Debra DeWeese, a woman who visited the resort and subsequently posted photos from the crime scene, told that her fellow vacationers could hear the woman’s screams all the way from land
Police said a lifeguard rescued both people with a boat when he saw what was happening, but the woman suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body and was pronounced dead at the scene despite resuscitation efforts
The Nassau Guardian newspaper reported that authorities in the Bahamas are still searching for a German woman who disappeared late last month after apparently being attacked while diving.
Last year, a shark killed a U.S. cruise ship passenger from Pennsylvania who was snorkeling near Green Cay in the northern Bahamas.
Most shark attacks in the Caribbean occur in the Bahamas, although a rare shark attack was reported in the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin three years ago.