A 37-year-old tourist was seriously injured after being savaged by a shark during a dolphin excursion in the Bahamas.
The Austrian woman, who has not yet been identified, was rushed to hospital after reports that she had been bitten shortly after 5:30 p.m. on Monday off the coast of Bimini.
“The initial report indicates that she was participating in a dolphin excursion approximately three nautical miles off the coast of North Bimini when the incident occurred,” the Royal Bahamas Police Force said in a statement Tuesday.
“The woman reportedly sustained serious injuries to her right ankle. She was subsequently airlifted to New Providence, where she is receiving further medical treatment.”
The Post contacted the Royal Bahamas Police Force for comment.
The waters around the Bahamas are home to roughly 40 shark species, including bull sharks, tiger sharks, hammerheads, and oceanic whitetip, according to Shark Angels, a nonprofit organization.
Caribbean reef sharks –– which can weigh around 155 pounds and reach about nine feet in length –– are the most common species.
The attack comes after a 69-year-old American tourist was bitten by a Caribbean reef shark while snorkeling in the Bimini area in July.
John Schweizer, from Niantic, Connecticut, survived the attack, which took place while he was visiting the Bahamas to celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary with wife Marcy and their adult sons, Tom and Joey.
He was snorkelling with Caribbean reef sharks –– which attack humans extremely rarely –– when one of them pulled him underwater and bit his left shin, Schweizer told the Stamford Advocate.
“It was so fast, so immediate that you knew it happened,” he told NBC Connecticut. “No doubt about it.”
Schweizer was taken back to a cruise ship, where an emergency doctor closed his wounds with 26 stitches before he was transported to a hospital in Miami.
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