A shark killed a US cruise ship passenger who was snorkelling in the Bahamas on Tuesday, authorities said.
The woman, 58, from Pennsylvania was attacked at a popular snorkelling spot near Green Cay in the northern Bahamas, police spokeswoman Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told AP.
Her family said a bull shark was responsible for the attack, she said.
Royal Caribbean International said the person died after arriving at a hospital for treatment.
The guest had been participating in an independent shore excursion in Nassau and had been sailing on Harmony of the Seas, which is on a seven-night trip after departing Florida on Sunday.
The majority of shark attacks in the Caribbean have occurred in the Bahamas, with two reported in 2019, one of them fatal.
That incident involved a woman from California who was attacked by three sharks near Rose Island, about 800 metres from where Tuesday’s attacked occurred.
In December 2020, a fatal shark attack was reported in the French Caribbean territory of St Martin, the first such incident in that region.
At least 32 shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1749, followed by 13 attacks in Cuba during that time, including one in 2019, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.
Michael Heithaus, a marine biologist at Florida International University in Miami, told AP that the high number of attacks in the Bahamas could be linked to the fact that there were a lot of people in the water in that area and that it has a robust marine ecosystem.
The Bahamas has a variety of shark species, the majority of which do not pay attention to people, except for bull sharks and tiger sharks, he said.
“They get to very large sizes and they eat big prey,” Mr Heithaus said.
Sharks have incredible sensory systems and can be attracted to food, sounds and smells in the water, he said.
However, shark attacks remain rare, he said.
Worldwide, there were 137 shark attacks last year, 73 of them unprovoked, according to the International Shark Attack File.
If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
Defence review at a glance
• Increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 but given “turbulent times it may be necessary to go faster”
• Prioritise a shift towards working with AI and autonomous systems
• Invest in the resilience of military space systems.
• Number of active reserves should be increased by 20%
• More F-35 fighter jets required in the next decade
• New “hybrid Navy” with AUKUS submarines and autonomous vessels
Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
