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A shark attacked and killed a Pennsylvania mother on vacation in the Bahamas

A bull shark attacked and killed a 58-year-old mother of three from Erie, Pennsylvania, who was snorkeling with her family in the Bahamas, officials say.

The victim, Caroline DiPlacido, was employed at Gannon University, where, for 13 years, she worked as a project coordinator for Gannon’s Office of Community and Government Relations.

Police said the victim and her family had arrived in the Bahamas the morning of Sept. 6. They set out on a tour with a local snorkel excursion company that afternoon. The attack occurred while the group was snorkeling near Green Cay, in the waters northwest of Rose Island in the Bahamas.

During a press conference on Sept. 6, Royal Bahamas Police Force Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said that sometime around 2 p.m., DiPlacido's family witnessed her being attacked by a bull shark. They were unable to fend off the shark before it inflicted "serious injuries to the left side of her body." 

Soon after the attack, DiPlacido's family and an operator of the excursion company pulled her aboard and took her to the closest docking facility.

Skippings said that emergency responders had come to the scene but “confirmed no vital signs of life” at the time.

Skippings added that they are investigating DiPlacido's death and that the particular beach where she was attacked had been closed off to any type of snorkeling activities. She did not know if or when it would be reopened.

On Sunday, Sept. 4, DiPlacido and her family took sail on a seven-night cruise from Port Canaveral, Florida. They sailed as guests with  Harmony of the Seas , a cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean.

Royal Caribbean confirmed the tourist's death in a statement provided to NBC News.

"While on an independent shore excursion in Nassau, Bahamas, a guest sailing on Harmony of the Seas experienced injuries from a shark," the statement reads. "After arriving at a local hospital for treatment, the guest passed away from their injuries. Royal Caribbean is providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time."

In a statement to the campus community obtained by NBC News, Gannon University remembered DiPlacido.

“Along with her efforts to further the mission of Erie-GAINS and Our West Bayfront, Caroline was a powerful presence of kindness and friendship to colleagues, students, and the wider community and cherished many family ties to Gannon. The news is devastating, and she will be missed.”

The statement added, "Let us remember Caroline with affection and hope."

According to  National Geographic , bull sharks are typically known for living in high-population areas. Experts consider them to be the world’s most dangerous sharks.  They're able to live in both saltwater and freshwater, which enables them to migrate into river systems and estuaries.

Editor’s Note (Sept. 8, 2022, at 8 a.m. ET): This story has been updated to reflect the name of the woman killed by the shark, her place of employment and that she was a mother of three.

Alex Portée is a senior trending reporter at TODAY Digital and is based in Los Angeles.

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Shark attack kills US cruise passenger in Bahamas

• Published 7 September 2022

A bull shark in the Bahamas

A US cruise ship passenger was killed by a shark while snorkelling near the Bahamas on Tuesday, according to local authorities.

The 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania was on an excursion near Green Cay near Nassau when the incident took place.

Police later said that the family identified the shark as a bull shark. A similar incident in the area took the life of a 21-year-old American in 2019.

Despite gripping public attention, shark attacks are exceedingly rare.

Bahamian police spokeswoman Chrislyn Skippings told reporters that the woman was on an excursion with a local tour company, which took her to the popular snorkelling area.

Family members and tour company staff saw her being attacked and managed to pull her from the water. A local news outlet, Eyewitness News, quoted Ms Skippings as saying that the victim suffered wounds to her "upper extremities".

The victim was declared dead by authorities after being taken to shore.

Her cruise ship, the Harmony of the Seas, was docked in Nassau at the time of the attack. It had just begun its seven day cruise of the western Caribbean from Port Canaveral in Florida on 4 September.

Cruise operator Royal Caribbean International said in a statement that they are "providing support and assistance to the guest's loved ones during this difficult time."

The incident is the first fatal shark attack in the Bahamas since 2019, when a 21-year-old woman from California was attacked by sharks near Rose Island, about half a mile (0.8km) away from Tuesday's attack.

In another recent incident, an eight-year-old British boy was injured after being attacked by three sharks in another part of the Bahamas. His father later told The Sun that the attack "was like a scene out of Jaws".

In total, statistics from the Florida-based International Shark Attack File show that only about 32 shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1749, the highest number in the region.

Michael Heithaus, a marine biologist at Florida International University in Miami, told the Associated Press that the relatively high number of shark attacks in the area is likely due to the high number of people in the waters, which are home to a vibrant marine ecosystem.

Globally, there were 73 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks in 2021, including nine which resulted in death.

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Cruise ship passenger killed by shark while snorkeling in the Bahamas

By CBS Miami Team

September 6, 2022 / 10:54 PM EDT / AP

MIAMI - A shark attacked and killed a Royal Caribbean cruise ship passenger who was snorkeling in the Bahamas.

The incident involved a 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania and occurred Tuesday at a popular snorkeling spot near Green Cay in the northern Bahamas, police spokeswoman Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told The Associated Press.

"It's unfortunate," she said.

Skippings said the woman's family identified it as a bull shark.

Royal Caribbean International said in a statement to the AP that the person died after arriving at a local hospital for treatment and that the company is helping their loved ones. They said the guest was 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 Southern California woman who was on vacation and was attacked by three sharks near Rose Island, located just a half mile from where Tuesday's attack 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.

Overall, at least 32 shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1749, followed by 13 attacks in Cuba during that time period, including one in 2019, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.

Michael Heithaus, a marine biologist at Florida International University in Miami, said in a phone interview that the high number of attacks in the Bahamas is likely linked to the fact that there are a lot of people in the water in that area and that it has a robust marine ecosystem.

He said 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.

"They get to very large sizes, and they eat big prey," Heithaus said, adding that sharks have incredible sensory systems and can be attracted to food, sounds, and smells in the water.

But overall, shark attacks remain rare, he stressed.

Worldwide, there were 137 shark attacks last year, 73 of them unprovoked, according to the International Shark Attack File.

The CBS Miami team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSMiami.com.

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American cruise ship passenger killed by shark in bahamas.

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A guest on a Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas cruise was killed while on an excursion in the Bahamas Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the company. According to NBC News , Royal Bahamas police said the guest was a 58-year-old Pennsylvania woman that had gone snorkeling with friends when a bull shark attacked her at about 2 p.m. at Green Cay.

Family members witnessed the attack and helped the tour operator pull her out of the water. CNN reports the woman has suffered injuries to her "upper extremities."

She had no signs of life after the attack and died before arriving at the hospital, the Royal Caribbean spokesperson said.

WICU , sourcing an Erie, Pennsylvania, university, identified the victim as Caroline DiPlacido. She was reportedly a project coordinator for the school's Office of Community and Government Relations, Erie Campus.

"Caroline was a powerful presence of kindness and friendship to colleagues, students, and the wider community and cherished many family ties to Gannon. The news is devastating, and she will be missed. We pray for Caroline as she crosses over to eternity. We pray for her husband, David, her children, David, Robert and Allison, her mother, Olivia, and her wider family. Let us remember Caroline with affection and hope," a statement from Gannon University reads.

The ship sailed out Sept. 4 from Port Canaveral. It was a seven-night cruise.

"It's just an unfortunate situation," Royal Bahamas Police Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said.

Skippings said DiPlacido's family identified the animal as a bull shark.

The area was roped off and closed indefinitely to snorkelers.

"Royal Caribbean is providing support and assistance to the guest's loved ones during this difficult time," a statement from the cruise line said.

Officials say the death will not impact the Harmony of the Seas' itinerary, meaning it will not be returning early.

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 Southern California woman who was on vacation and was attacked by three sharks near Rose Island, located just a half mile from where Tuesday’s attack occurred.

Overall, at least 32 shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1749, followed by 13 attacks in Cuba during that time period, including one in 2019, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.

Shark attacks as a whole remain extremely rare. In 2021, there were 73 confirmed unprovoked shark attack cases worldwide.

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Massive shark circling Atlantic tourist ship becomes TikTok star in viral video

The video has been seen 38.5 million times, article bookmarked.

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Louise Thomas

Jaws dropped in the Atlantic ocean when a giant shark stalked a boat full of tourists, who screamed "oh my God" and "holy fu*k" at the sight of the terrifying sea creature.

Video of the shark shared to TikTok has been seen 38.5 million times since it was posted by Alex Albrecht on Tuesday.

“Sailed six weeks in the Atlantic saw this big f–king shark,” he captioned the video.

While commenters compared the gigantic shark to the "megalodon", famous for its massive prehistoric jaw and middling Jason Statham films, others identified the Cetorhiniade as a basking shark.

Also known as a bone shark or elephant shark, the basking shark is second to only the whale shark in size and likewise prefers eating plankton rather than boatloads of screaming humans.

Passengers on the cruise ship said by The Sun to be full of tourists can be heard in the video shouting "Woah!" as the 17-foot monster circles near the water’s surface around the boat.

Viewers compared it to the 59-foot "Meg", which lived 23 million years ago, with one saying they had anxiety watching the passengers stand so close to the boat’s edge.

“I’m just saying no one can say that the megalodon don’t exist when we have only explored 5% of the ocean,” said another user.

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U.S. tourist killed in shark attack while snorkelling in the Bahamas

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An American tourist who was visiting the Bahamas on a cruise ship died Tuesday after being attacked by a shark .

The passenger, who officials said was 58, had been snorkelling with members of her family when a bull shark attacked her at Green Cay, according to Royal Bahamas Police Force Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings.

The woman, a mother from Pennsylvania whose name was not released, had arrived in the Bahamas on a Royal Caribbean cruise that morning, Skippings said.

While docked in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, the family booked an excursion with a private tour boat company to take them snorkelling at a popular spot in the area near Rose Island.

At around 2 p.m. local time, the woman was attacked by a bull shark while snorkelling. (According to the Florida Museum of Natural History , bull sharks are more likely than other species of shark to attack humans unprovoked.)

Family members saw the attack and rushed to help her. Staff members from the tour company helped pull the woman onto the boat and they raced to the nearest dock where paramedics were waiting.

Skippings said that the woman suffered bites to her “upper extremities” and had no vital signs after the attack.

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The woman and her family had been sailing on Harmony of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that set sail from Port Canaveral, Fla., on Sunday for a seven-day tour.

After the death, the cruise company issued a statement, saying it was “providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time.”

The area where the attack happened has been cordoned off and closed indefinitely to snorkelers. The incident is under investigation, authorities said. The last recorded shark attack in the Bahamas occurred in 2018, according to the International Shark Attack File .

Shark attacks are extremely rare, with the Florida Museum of Natural History estimating that the odds of being fatally attacked by a shark are less than one in four million.

Last year there were 73 confirmed shark attack cases worldwide.

Many shark attacks are cases of mistaken identity and can happen when humans are swimming near large schools of fish or when there is poor visibility through the water. Sharks may also attack out of self-defence when they feel threatened.

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• Cruise News

Cruise Passenger Attacked, Killed By Shark While Snorkeling In the Bahamas

Richard Simms

• September 6, 2022

Royal Caribbean Group (RCL) confirmed Tuesday that one of its guests had been killed following a shark attack in the Bahamas.

Where the Shark Attack Took Place

One family’s vacation was marred by tragedy when a 58-year-old woman was attacked by a bull shark while on a snorkeling excursion. The incident occurred at a popular destination known as Green Cay, just off the shore of Rose Island, at approximately 2 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon. The woman was rushed to the hospital but did not survive the injuries she had sustained.

According to NBC News , approximately 5-7 other people were snorkeling with the unidentified woman. During a news conference, Royal Bahamas Police Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said that family members had witnessed the attack and helped to pull the victim from the water. She was then taken by boat to Fort Montagu Hospital.

Bull sharks — which typically run between 7.5 and 11 feet in length — are naturally aggressive. Because they favor shallow, coastal waters (as do snorkelers), they are the type of shark most often associated with attacks on humans.

Royal Caribbean Offering Family Support

In confirming the news, Royal Caribbean said that the woman had been a passenger aboard Harmony of the Seas , which is in the midst of a seven-night sailing out of Port Canaveral, Florida. The cruise line indicated that the woman was on an independent shore excursion, meaning one that was not sold through or sanctioned by the line itself. This is, of course, not at all uncommon, as many cruise guests — no matter the destination — often make plans with independent contractors.

In a statement, Royal Caribbean Group added that they were “providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time.”

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Passenger on cruise ship out of Port Canaveral attacked and killed by shark in the Bahamas

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A woman on a cruise ship that departed from Port Canaveral Sunday was killed by a shark in the Bahamas Tuesday, according to law enforcement authorities.

The incident involved a 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania and occurred at a popular snorkeling spot near Green Cay in the northern Bahamas, police spokeswoman Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings told The Associated Press. Skippings said the woman’s family identified it as a bull shark.

The attack occurred Tuesday while on an "independent shore excursion" in Nassau, according to Royal Caribbean International. 

"Sadly, the guest passed away after arriving at a local hospital for treatment," a Royal Caribbean International representative told FLORIDA TODAY. "Royal Caribbean International is providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones at this time."

The ship, Harmony of the Sea, is continuing on its seven-night journey.

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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 Southern California woman who was on vacation and was attacked by three sharks near Rose Island, located just a half mile 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.

Overall, at least 32 shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1749, followed by 13 attacks in Cuba during that time period, including one in 2019, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.

Michael Heithaus, a marine biologist at Florida International University in Miami, said that the high number of attacks in the Bahamas is likely linked to the fact that there are a lot of people in the water in that area and that it has a robust marine ecosystem.

He said 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.

“They get to very large sizes, and they eat big prey,” Heithaus said, adding that sharks have incredible sensory systems and can be attracted to food, sounds and smells in the water.

But overall, shark attacks remain rare, he stressed.

Worldwide, there were 137 shark attacks last year, 73 of them unprovoked, according to the International Shark Attack File.

Finch Walker contribututed to this report.

Finch Walker is a Breaking News Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Walker at 321-290-4744 or   [email protected] . Twitter:  @_ finchwalker

Support local journalism. Subscribe today.

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US tourist from Boston killed in shark attack in Bahamas, police say

In this screen grab taken from video, lifeguards take the body of a shark victim out on a stretcher, in New Providence, Bahamas, Monday Dec. 4, 2023. (Freelance Media via AP)

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — 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.

It was not immediately clear what type of shark attacked the woman. A police superintendent did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.

Gavin Naylor, program director of the International Shark Attack File in Florida, said in an interview that there have been a couple of shark-related fatalities reported in the Bahamas in the past five years.

He noted that the Bahamas has a “huge” tourist population, adding that there are a lot of people in the water and a lot of visitors who want to view sharks from a fishing boat or dive with them.

“So the sharks get acclimated, and the animals are a little bit less cautious than they otherwise might be,” he said.

Between 30 to 40 shark species live around the Bahamas, although the Caribbean reef shark, the bull shark, the tiger shark and the black tip shark have the highest bite frequency, Naylor said.

“Usually, it’s an accidental bite. They think it’s something else,” he said. “Once in a while, they’ll actually single out people, and it’s very intentional.”

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.

At least 33 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1580, with the island ranking ninth worldwide, according to the file.

The Nassau Guardian newspaper reported that authorities in the Bahamas are still searching for a German woman who went missing late last month after she was apparently attacked while diving.

Last year, a shark killed a U.S. cruise ship passenger from Pennsylvania who was snorkeling in the northern Bahamas near Green Cay.

Most shark attacks in the Caribbean occur in the Bahamas, although a rare shark attack was reported in the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin three years ago.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

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Home » Home » UPDATE: Fatal Shark Attack in the Bahamas On Harmony of the Seas Cruise Ship Passenger Under Investigation

UPDATE: Fatal Shark Attack in the Bahamas On Harmony of the Seas Cruise Ship Passenger Under Investigation

By Space Coast Daily  //  September 8, 2022

58-year-old female victim was a member of an independent snorkling excursion

BREVARD COUNTY • PORT CANAVERAL, FLORIDA – A cruise ship passenger traveling on the Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas out of Port Canaveral was killed by a bull shark while snorkeling in the Bahamas on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old female victim, who was a member of an independent excursion when the incident occurred, died due to upper body injuries, according to authorities on the island of New Providence.

“The family was reportedly snorkeling in waters and that area is known for visitors to snorkel,” Royal Bahamas police chief Chrislyn Skippings said in a news conference.  “It is further reported that family members observed a bull shark attacking the female.”

Since bull sharks often dwell in very shallow waters, they are found in many types of habitats, are territorial by nature, and have no tolerance for provocation, they may be more dangerous to humans than any other species of shark.

Bull sharks are one of the three shark species, along with the tiger shark and great white shark, most likely to bite humans.

Tour employees and family members rescued the woman and quickly returned to New Providence Island for emergency medical care, but the woman was pronounced dead.

Port Canaveral homeported Harmony of the Seas was on a seven-day cruise that departed on Sunday and was visiting Nassau on New Providence Island from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

According to the police statement, the woman was attacked when she was on a tour with four family members, snorkeling in the waters northwest of Rose Island. The family members unsuccessfully tried to rescue the woman, who suffered “serious injuries to the left side of her body,” according to the statement.

Authorities on the island of New Providence reported that shortly before 3 p.m. on Tuesday, police were alerted that a female visitor was attacked by a shark in the waters at Green Cay and was being transported to the Fort Montagu ramp via the Sea the Day tour boat.

“It is reported that a family of five from Lake Erie, Pennsylvania were on a tour, snorkeling in waters northwest of Rose Island, in The Bahamas when one of the family members, a 58- year old female was attacked,” said police in a statement.

“Tour operators along with family members attempted to rescue the female; however, they were unsuccessful, which resulted in the female receiving serious injuries to the left side of her body. EMS personnel visited the Fort Montagu Ramp where the victim was transported and confirmed no vital signs of life.”

Royal Caribbean International said in a statement to the AP that the woman died after arriving at a local hospital for treatment and that the company is helping their loved ones.

The area of the attack has now been closed to visitors indefinitely, and authorities have not said when or if the area may reopen.

Shark attacks have been noted in the same area previously, including a fatal incident in 2019 when a 21-year-old woman from California was killed. That incident did not involve cruise ship guests.

With a gross tonnage of 226,963, Harmony of the Seas is the third largest passenger ship in the world. In length, however, Harmony of the Seas is the longest cruise ship in the world at 1,188 feet long.

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Pennsylvania woman killed in Bahamas shark attack

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WASHINGTON — A 58-year-old woman from Pennsylvania was killed Tuesday after she was attacked by a shark while snorkeling in the Bahamas, police said. 

The woman and her family were passengers on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and had booked an independent shore excursion in Nassau. 

The local tour company brought the family to go snorkeling in Green Cay, about half a mile from Rose Island, a private island off the coast of Nassau, authorities said in a press conference .

Around 2 p.m., the woman was attacked by a shark while she and her family were snorkeling, police said. Five to seven people were snorkeling when the attack occurred. No other injuries were reported. 

"It is further reported that family members observed a bull shark attacking the female," police described.

Family members and workers with the tour company got the woman back in the boat and took her to shore, where emergency crews pronounced her dead at the scene, police said. They added that the victim suffered injuries to her upper body. 

In a statement, Royal Caribbean said it is "providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones during this difficult time." The Harmony of the Seas is on a 7-night cruise that left Port Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday. 

Authorities have yet to say where in Pennsylvania the woman lived. 

The deadly attack comes one month after an eight-year-old British boy was reportedly attacked  by several nurse sharks while swimming in a lagoon in the Bahamas. 

Overall, shark attacks on humans remain extremely rare. There were just 73 confirmed unprovoked shark attack cases in 2021, including 9 fatalities, according to The Florida Museum of Natural History’s International Shark Attack File . The U.S. had the most out of any country, accounting for 47 of the 73 reported attacks.

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Pennsylvania mother killed in shark attack off Green Cay

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Popular snorkel spot closed until further notice

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A 58-year-old mother was attacked and killed by a bull shark while snorkeling with her family at a popular spot near a cay off New Providence.

The woman was part of a group of around five to seven cruise ship passengers, including her husband, daughter and son, who booked a tour with a local company to snorkel in the waters off Green Cay sometime before 2pm.

Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said family members saw the woman being attacked by the shark and along with boat operators were able to rescue her and bring her onboard. She said the woman received injuries to her “upper extremities”.

The woman was taken to the closest docking facility at the Montague Beach ramp; however, she was pronounced dead by emergency medical services.

Green Cay is about a half mile west of Rose Island and is commonly used as a snorkel site, according to Skippings.

She said the beach at Green Cay has been closed until further notice.

The Coast Guard and US Embassy have been contacted alongside all relevant local stakeholders.

About Ava Turnquest

Wonderful information. Maybe you should consider doing a full documentary around the islands.. last year There was a family of sharks, swimming around in the Harbour in Governors Eleuthera. For days.. OF COURSE…people stayed put of the water…

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Cruise ship passenger killed by shark while snorkeling in the bahamas.

“They get to very large sizes, and they eat big prey,” Heithaus said, adding that sharks have incredible sensory systems and can be attracted to food, sounds, and smells in the water.

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Us tourist from boston killed in shark attack in bahamas, police say.

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A female tourist from Boston was killed Monday by a shark while paddleboarding in the Bahamas, police told reporters.

Related video above: How to prevent a shark attack

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.

Bahamas Local said the woman was 44-years-old.

Witnesses on the scene told local media that the woman had gotten married Sunday, and she was with family when the attack happened.

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.

It was not immediately clear what type of shark attacked the woman. A police superintendent did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.

Gavin Naylor, program director of the International Shark Attack File in Florida, said in an interview that there have been a couple of shark-related fatalities reported in the Bahamas in the past five years.

He noted that the Bahamas has a “huge” tourist population, adding that there are a lot of people in the water and a lot of visitors who want to view sharks from a fishing boat or dive with them.

“So the sharks get acclimated, and the animals are a little bit less cautious than they otherwise might be,” he said.

Between 30 to 40 shark species live around the Bahamas, although the Caribbean reef shark, the bull shark, the tiger shark and the black tip shark have the highest bite frequency, Naylor said.

“Usually, it’s an accidental bite. They think it’s something else,” he said. “Once in a while, they’ll actually single out people, and it’s very intentional.”

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.

At least 33 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1580, with the island ranking ninth worldwide, according to the file.

The Nassau Guardian newspaper reported that authorities in the Bahamas are still searching for a German woman who went missing late last month after she was apparently attacked while diving.

Last year, a shark killed a U.S. cruise ship passenger from Pennsylvania who was snorkeling in the northern Bahamas near Green Cay.

Most shark attacks in the Caribbean occur in the Bahamas, although a rare shark attack was reported in the French Caribbean territory of St. Martin three years ago.

WATCH: Cruise Ship Passengers Spot Gigantic Shark [Video]

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• By Alyssa Choiniere
• Updated Jan 18, 2023 at 6:16pm

Alex Albrecht TikTok A gigantic shark swims near a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

Musician Alex Albrecht caught a rare sight on TikTok as a gigantic shark swam passed a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean. You can watch the video here or later in this post.

“Sailed six weeks in the atlantic saw this big f****** shark,” he captioned the video, posted Tuesday, May 26, 2021.

Albrecht had a high perch to film the shark, which made onlookers on the deck scream. Some thought the massive shark was a prehistoric megalodon, but commenters on the video said it was most likely a basking shark, which is not usually aggressive to humans, according to the Florida Museum . The brief video had more than 37 million views two days after it was posted.

Here’s what you need to know:

Commenters on TikTok Identified the Shark as a Basking Shark, an Endangered Species, While Some Wondered Whether it Was a Prehistoric Megalodon

The Meg returns! 17-foot basking shark stalking a cruise ship is compared to its ferocious ancestor

🎥: .alex.albrecht

Passengers on the cruise ship strained to get a better look as the shark made a wide circle around the boat, leaning onto the railing. Many were screaming, some said “Woah” and “Oh my God.” Albrecht was silent for the first few seconds of filming, then says, “Holy f***.”

Albrecht is a musician with about 74,000 followers on TikTok. His Spotify account says he is a 20-year-old Seattle, Washington-based musician. But it was his shark video that drew attention at the end of May 2021.

“Isn’t that megalodon?” one person commented on his TikTok video.

The Sun reported the giant shark was likely a basking shark, a harmless but massive creature which can reach 12 meters (or almost 40 feet) in length and weigh six tons. Basking sharks feed on zooplankton, which they eat swimming with their mouth open. Basking sharks can be seen from May to September off the southwest coast of England, Wales, Isle of Man and Scotland’s west coast, The Sun reported.

Still, the basking shark is a rare sight. They are an endangered species, protected under the UK’s Wildlife and Countryside Act, according to The Sun.

The megalodon is an extinct shark species, which was the largest fish that ever lived, according to Encyclopedia Britannica . The shark’s name stems from two Greek words, meaning “big tooth.”

Megalodon Are Extinct & the Prehistoric Creature Had Teeth Three Times the Length of a Great White Shark’s Teeth

Giant shark in TikTok sparks ‘megalodon’ theory after giving tourists a scare t.co/gIQA5aHG1F

The megalodon’s teeth were larger and thicker than a great white shark, with teeth reaching almost seven inches in length, Britannica reports. That’s about three times larger than a great white shark’s teeth.

With its massive size came “a ferocious bite,” Britannica writes. Its bite diameter was nearly 10 feet, several times larger than the average-sized shark that lives today.

Scientists disagree on how big the shark really was, judging its size from fossil records. Some say it reached about 60 feet in length, while other scientists contend it exceeded 80 feet, the encyclopedia says.

@.alex.albrecht Sailed six weeks in the atlantic saw this big fucking shark ♬ original sound – Alex Albrecht

The listing says:

Megalodon was the largest fish ever known, a designation based on discoveries of hundreds of fossil teeth and a handful of vertebrae. Tooth-shape similarities between megalodon and modern great white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) suggest that the two species may have been close relatives, and thus megalodon likely resembled that species in appearance—that is, as a bulky torpedo-shaped fish with a conical snout, large pectoral and dorsal fins, and a strong crescent-shaped tail. Estimates of body length are calculated using the statistical relationship between the size of megalodon’s fossil teeth and the teeth and body mass of modern white sharks and other living relatives. This data suggests that mature adult megalodons had a mean length of 10.2 metres (about 33.5 feet), the largest specimens measuring 17.9 metres (58.7 feet) long. Some scientists, however, contend that the largest forms may have measured up to 25 metres (82 feet) long. Studies estimate that adult body mass ranged from roughly 30 metric tons (1 metric ton = 1,000 kg; about 66,000 pounds) to more than 65 metric tons (about 143,000 pounds), adult females being larger (in both length and mass) than adult males.

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Cruise ship disaster erupted after captain took boat on ‘sail by’ that ended up with 33 dead

The costa concordia crash saw thousands evacuated and tragically, 33 people lose their lives.

Tom Earnshaw

It was an unplanned excursion that led to one of the world's most recognisable maritime disasters.

But the crash and sinking of the Costa Concordia seemed unimaginable when the ship was first launched back in 2005.

At 290 metres long, it was the longest cruise ship in Italy at the time and a shining beacon leading the way for the country's cruise line industry .

With room for 3,780 passengers - which for context is more than 2,200 more than the Titanic - and a crew of 1,100, it was a huge vessel that spent its days cruising the Mediterranean .

But seven years later, it was all over after disaster struck. Tragically, 33 people ended up losing their lives as a result.

What happened?

Reportedly home to the largest ever spa that any ship had ever seen, the Costa Concordia was a luxury liner to say the least.

The ship - captained by Francesco Schettino - set sail on 13 January, 2012, having began a seven day cruise from Civitavecchia, near Lazio, on the western Italian coastline.

Hours after departing from port, the ship neared Giglio Island.

The problem with this was that it was a deviation from its course, moving closer to the island in a move described as a 'sail by' for those on board to gaze over the island. At the same time, the ship performed a maritime salute, which is where it sounds its horn to locals.

Disaster strikes

The move to go closer to Giglio was a fatal one. After spotting a rock formation in the ships path, Schettino tried to order to crew for the ship to be moved off its current course.

Unfortunately, due to reported language barrier issues with Indonesian helmsman, the ship was steered in the opposite direction.

Taking 13 seconds to correct the manoeuvre, the boat's bow swung clear but the stern caught the reef at 9.45pm. A huge 53 metre tear was then left in the left side of the vessel.

Flooding immediately took over the Costa Concordia, with the engine room engulfed and power lost.

No engine meant no steering. Due to the rudder position and the wind, the ship was slowly directed towards the island's shores.

Captain's message

Schettino told the Italian coastguard that the issue wasn't as serious as it in fact was.

At 10.14pm, he told them that the ship only had a blackout but 10 minutes later, he admitted that the ship was taking on seawater.

At 10.39pm, the first rescue vessel arrived, and just 15 minutes later, the captain ordered the ship be abandoned - even though reports say that lifeboats had been launched. At 11.20pm, Schettino left the bridge and abandoned ship, later claiming that he fell off the ship and landed in a lifeboat.

Crew abandon ship while passengers remain

Approaching 11.35pm, the final members of the ship's crew left the bridge of the ship. This was despite 300 passengers still remaining on board while it was sinking.

At 12:40 am, a coast guard called Schettino, who was in a lifeboat with other officers. When ordered to return and oversee the evacuation, he refused.

Luckily for passengers, rescue operations had arrived at the scene of the sinking ship. This included 25 patrol boats, 14 merchant vessels and several helicopters.

By morning, 4,194 people had been evacuated to Giglio, with divers saving three more from inside the ship the following day.

Deaths and prosecution

The crash was a huge tragedy, with 32 people dying in the disaster. One member of the rescue team also passed away.

It wasn't until November 2014 that the last body of a passenger was recovered.

Schettino and members of his team were charged with multiple offences, including manslaughter.

In 2016, the captain was eventually convicted on all charges and sentenced to more than 16 years in prison . He appealed twice, losing on both occasions.

Totals costs relating to the sinking of the Costa Concordia are estimated at $2 billion (£1.56 billion). One third of passengers took up Costa Cruises' compensation offer of up to $11,000 (£8,500) per person.

Topics:  Cruise Ship , Travel , World News , Crime , Holiday

Tom joined LADbible in 2024, specialising in SEO and trending content. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

@ TREarnshaw

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Juneau will vote whether to ban cruise ships on Saturdays to give locals a break

FILE - Cruise ships are shown near downtown Juneau on June 7, 2023, along the Gastineau Channel, in Alaska. Voters in Alaska's capital city could decide in October whether to ban large cruise ships on Saturdays starting next year. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

JUNEAU — Each year, a crush of tourists arrives in Alaska’s capital city on cruise ships to see wonders like the fast-diminishing Mendenhall Glacier. Now, long-simmering tensions over Juneau’s tourism boom are coming to a head over a new voter initiative aimed at giving residents a respite from the influx.

A measure that would ban cruise ships with 250 or more passengers from docking in Juneau on Saturdays qualified for the Oct. 1 municipal ballot, setting the stage for a debate about how much tourism is too much in a city that is experiencing first-hand the impacts of climate change. The measure would also ban ships on July 4, a day when locals flock to a downtown parade.

The “ship-free Saturdays” initiative that qualified this week will go to voters unless the local Assembly enacts a similar measure by Aug. 15, which is seen as unlikely.

Juneau, accessible only by water or air, is home to the Mendenhall Glacier, a major draw for the cruise passengers who arrive on multi-story ships towering over parts of the modest downtown skyline. Many residents of this city of about 32,000 have concerns about increased traffic, congested trails and the frequent buzz of sight-seeing helicopters transporting visitors to the Mendenhall and other glaciers.

[ A citizen initiative to limit cruise ships advances in Juneau, while another stalls in Sitka ]

Deborah Craig, who has lived in Juneau for decades, supports ship-free Saturdays. Craig, who lives across the channel from where the ships dock, often hears their early-morning fog horns and broadcast announcements made to passengers that are audible across the water.

The current “overwhelming” number of visitors diminishes what residents love so much about Juneau, she said.

“It’s about preserving the lifestyle that keeps us in Juneau, which is about clean air, clean water, pristine environment and easy access to trails, easy access to water sports and nature,” she said of the initiative.

“There’s this perception that some people are not welcoming of tourists, and that’s not the case at all,” Craig said. “It’s about volume. It’s about too much — too many in a short period of time overwhelming a small community.”

A group of people take in the views of the Mendenhall Glacier on June 8, 2023, in Juneau. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

The current cruise season runs from early April to late October.

Opponents of the initiative say limiting dockings will hurt local businesses that rely heavily on tourism and could invite lawsuits. A voter-approved limit on cruise passenger numbers in Bar Harbor, Maine, another community with a significant tourism economy, was challenged in federal court.

Laura McDonnell, a business leader who owns Caribou Crossings, a gift shop in Juneau’s downtown tourist core, said she makes 98% of her annual revenue during the summer season.

Tourism is about all the “local businesses that rely on cruise passengers and our place in the community,” said McDonnell, who is involved in Protect Juneau’s Future, which opposes the initiative.

Some schools recently closed due to factors including declining enrollment, while the regional economy faces challenges, she said.

“I think that as a community, we really need to look at what’s at stake for our economy,” she said. “We are not in a position to be shrinking our economy.”

A cruise ship departs from downtown Juneau, on June 7, 2023, along the Gastineau Channel, in Alaska. Voters in Alaska's capital city could decide in October whether to ban large cruise ships on Saturdays starting next year. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

Cruise ships are docked on June 9, 2023, in downtown Juneau, Alaska. Voters in Alaska's capital city could decide in October whether to ban large cruise ships on Saturdays starting next year. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)

The cruise industry accounted for $375 million in direct spending in Juneau in 2023, most of that attributable to spending by passengers, according to a report prepared for the city by McKinley Research Group LLC.

After a two-year pandemic lull, cruise passenger numbers rose sharply in Juneau, hitting a record of more than 1.6 million in 2023. Under this year’s schedule, Sept. 21 will be the first day since early May with no large ships in town.

The tourism debate is polarizing, and the city has been trying to find a middle ground, said Alexandra Pierce, Juneau’s visitor industry director. But she noted there also needs to be a regional solution.

If the Juneau initiative passes, it will affect other, smaller communities in Southeast Alaska because the ships, generally on trips originating in Seattle or Vancouver, Canada, will have to go somewhere if they can’t dock in Juneau on Saturdays, she said.

Some residents in Sitka, south of Juneau, are in the early stages of trying to limit cruise visitation to that small, island community, which is near a volcano.

Juneau and major cruise lines, including Carnival Corp., Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean Group, agreed to a limit of five large ships a day, which took effect this year. They more recently signed a pact, set to take effect in 2026, seeking a daily limit of 16,000 cruise passengers Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 on Saturdays.

Pierce said the overall goal is to keep total cruise passenger visitation around 1.6 million, and to even out daily numbers of visitors that can spike to about 18,000 on the busiest days. Peak days in the past have felt “a bit suffocating,” she said. Juneau traditionally has been the most popular cruise port in the state.

A number of projects around Juneau are expected to help make existing cruise numbers feel less impactful. Those include plans for a gondola at the city-owned ski area and increased visitor capacity at the Mendenhall Glacier recreation area, she said.

Renée Limoge Reeve, vice president of government and community relations for the trade group Cruise Lines International Association Alaska, said the agreements signed with the city were the first of their kind in Alaska.

The best strategy is “ongoing, direct dialogue with local communities” and working together in a way that also provides a predictable source of income for local businesses, she said.

Protect Juneau’s Future, led by local business leaders, said the success of the ballot measure would mean a loss of sales tax revenue and millions of dollars in direct spending by cruise passengers. The group was confident voters would reject the measure, its steering committee said in a statement.

Karla Hart, a sponsor of the initiative and frequent critic of the cruise industry, said the threat of litigation has kept communities from taking steps to limit cruise numbers in the past. She was heartened by legal wins this year in the ongoing fight over the measure passed in Bar Harbor, a popular destination near Maine’s Acadia National Park.

She believes the Juneau initiative will pass.

“Every single person who is going to vote has a lived experience and knowledge of how the cruise industry impacts their lives,” she said.

Becky Bohrer, Associated Press

Becky Bohrer is a reporter for the Associated Press based in Juneau.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

Female cruise passengers lob chairs and drag each other to floor in huge fight

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A group of women onboard a cruise were caught on camera throwing chairs and punches at each other in a drunken brawl.

Video footage, taken by a bemused onlooker who just wanted a slice of pizza, shows the passengers warring in the early hours of the morning on the Carnival Paradise.

The ship, run by Carnival Cruise Line, was on its final night of a five-day cruise from the US to Central America when the ruckus broke out in a dining room.

In the clip, women can be seen hurling chairs, throwing punches, piling on top of each other and screaming.

WARNING: THE VIDEO BELOW CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE

The man who filmed it, fellow passenger Nick Richardson, can be heard shouting ‘Welcome to the mother f******g cruise’, before saying, ‘No, no, not me man’ as the brawl gets closer to him.

The dad-of-three, who was on the cruise with his family, later told the New York Post : ‘In my opinion, (it was) just a bunch of people on their last night, probably drank too much.

‘Obviously some kind of misunderstanding. They didn’t give a s**t who was watching.

‘They didn’t care,’ he added. ‘They just kept going.’

Nick, who posted the video on YouTube, said he had walked into the dining room at around 3am to get some food when the fight started.

He can be heard in the video saying he just wanted a slice of pizza before bed, and at one point says, ‘Let’s all get some pizza,’ trying to calm the women down.

A spokesperson for Carnival Cruise Line confirmed the incident and told the New York Post the ship’s security team had intervened.

The firm said, as is their policy ‘such behaviour’ is not tolerated and the guests would not be sailing with them again.

Nick said the brawl didn’t ruined the trip for him and his family and that they all had a fantastic time travelling to Honduras and Cozumel.

He has even booked to go on another Carnival cruise in the spring.

It’s not the first time a massive fight has broken out on a Carnival ship.

In 2022, 40-60 passengers got involved in bust-up on Carnival Magic on the last night of a Caribbean cruise.

According to a witness, it started as an argument between two people on the dance floor when one became jealous over a threesome.

Metro have contacted Carnival Cruise Line for comment on the latest incident.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

For more stories like this, check our news page .

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Large fight breaks out on Carnival cruise ship, video footage shows

A large fight broke out on a Carnival Cruise Line ship, video footage shared on social media shows.

• The incident occurred in the buffet area of the Carnival Paradise around 3 a.m. on the final day of a Caribbean cruise in early June.
• Security personnel intervened and escorted one group out of the room and the other group exited the opposite direction, a passenger said.

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A video posted to YouTube on Saturday by passenger Nick Richardson appears to show a group of fellow guests throwing chairs, tackling each other and hitting one another in the buffet area of the Carnival Paradise. Richardson previously shared the video on TikTok, but the social media platform removed the clip , he told USA TODAY.

The 43-year-old happened upon the conflict when he went in search of pizza around 3 a.m. on the final day of a Caribbean cruise in early June. “I woke up because I was starving,” said Richardson, who lives in Clearwater, Florida. He saw security guards speaking to groups of guests.

The passengers were “talking trash to each other” in the eatery before the clash escalated, though he wasn’t sure how the initial argument began. Richardson estimated that roughly 10 to 15 people participated in the physical fight.

Security personnel intervened and escorted one group out of the room and the other group exited the opposite direction, he said. The video shows chairs overturned and dishes strewn across the floor and tables – with at least one plate broken – in the aftermath.

“Carnival Paradise’s security team intervened in an incident that took place on June 6,” spokesperson Matt Lupoli said in an emailed statement. “As is our policy, we will not tolerate such behavior and the guests involved were fined and will not sail on Carnival Cruise Line again.”

Richardson stressed the fight was an “isolated incident” and that he thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the trip, which marked his first cruise. He even booked another sailing with Carnival shortly after returning home.

“The security and just all of the staff there, they were very, very good,” he said.

The incident comes after a Carnival guest pleaded guilty in February to assaulting another passenger , at one point smashing a glass in their face.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at [email protected].

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