An American tourist was killed in a shark attack Tuesday in the Bahamas.
The woman, whose name was not released, was snorkeling with a group of five to seven relatives when a bull shark attacked her shortly after 2 p.m. at Green Cay, Royal Bahamas Police Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said at a news conference.
The area is about a half-mile northwest of Rose Island, a private island off Nassau.
The woman, who officials said was 58, had no vital signs after the attack, Skippings said.
She arrived in the Bahamas on a cruise ship Tuesday morning, Skippings said. A private tour boat took her group snorkeling off Rose Island.
Family members witnessed the attack. Along with a tour operator, they pulled her from the water and took her by boat to Fort Montagu on Nassau, Skippings said.
The area was cordoned off and closed indefinitely to snorkelers.
“It’s just an unfortunate situation,” Skippings said.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida, the last recorded shark attack in the Bahamas was in 2018. It says bull sharks are among the most common when it comes to unprovoked attacks on humans.
They are large, capable of inflicting serious injuries, commonly found in areas where humans enter the water, and have teeth designed to shear rather than hold, the museum says in a primer on species.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
