NASSAU, The Bahamas — A Mexican woman and an American tourist died in separate fatal shark attacks over a span of two days.
A female tourist from Boston was killed Monday by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas, police told reporters.
The victim, who was not identified, was attacked less than a mile off the western end of New Providence island, where the capital, Nassau, is located. She was paddleboarding with a man who was not injured, according to Police Sgt. Desiree Ferguson.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences…for this most unfortunate situation,” she said.
Police said a lifeguard rescued both people with a boat upon seeing what was happening, but the woman suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body and was declared dead at the scene despite CPR efforts.
On Sunday, a Mexican woman died after she was severely bitten in the leg by a shark in the Pacific Ocean off the beach town of Melaque, authorities said.
Rafael Araiza, the head of the local civil defense office, said the attack occurred Saturday a short distance from the beach in Melaque, just west of the seaport of Manzanillo.
Ariaza said the woman, 26, was swimming with her five-year-old daughter toward a floating play platform about 75 feet (25 meters) from the shore.
The victim was trying to boost her child aboard the floating platform when the shark bit her. The daughter was not harmed.
Ariaza said that despite a quick response by rescuers, the woman died of blood loss from the massive bite wound on her leg near the hip. She was a resident of a nearby town.
Shark attacks are relatively uncommon in Mexico. In 2019, a U.S. diver survived a shark bite on the forearm in Magdalena Bay off the Baja California Sur coast.
Fatal shark attacks are rare, with only an average of five to six reported worldwide a year, most of them occurring in Australia, Naylor said. Last year, there were a total of 57 unprovoked bites around the globe, the majority of them in the U.S., according to the International Shark Attack File.
