Woman dies in a rare shark attack at Caribbean’s St. Martin

Shark attack a “shocking” incident

A 38-year-old female tourist died following an extremely rare shark attack off the coast of the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin on Thursday.

In an article published in CBS News, international news wire Associated Press (AP) reported that the incident came as a shock to the French Caribbean territory, citing St. Martin government’s spokesman Alain Rioual who said “it was the first time in the territory’s recent history that a fatal attack had been reported.”

According to the article, the victim was a French woman who was on sabbatical in St. Martin. Her leg was apparently leg torn off in the attack that happened about 500 feet from shore.

The species of sharks that are often found in the area of the attack are Caribbean reef sharks and nurse sharks. They don’t pose a risk, as per Mike Heithaus, shark researcher and dean of the College of Arts, Sciences & Education at Florida International University. Although tiger sharks and bull sharks occasionally appear there, too.

“Most times they’re not a threat, but they can be dangerous,” Heithaus said in a phone interview with the AP.

The attack occurred in Orient Bay, which is a popular beach in the northeastern part of St. Martin.

After the horrendous incident, the government was quick to announce a 48-hour ban on swimming and any kind of water sports at all the island’s beaches.

The last unprovoked and non-fatal shark attack in St. Martin was in 2005, said Tyler Bowling who is the manager of the Florida Program for Shark Research.

Most of the shark attacks actually happened in the Bahamas. Two were reported last year, one of them fatal. In 2019, another shark attack was reported in Cuba.

In total, the Caribbean region recorded 34 unprovoked bites since 2000. Four of these were fatal.