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A newlywed from Boston was mauled to death by a shark while paddle boarding at a Sandals resort in the Bahamas the day after her wedding.
The unidentified 44-year-old man was killed at 11:15 a.m. local time Monday morning while he was three-quarters of a mile offshore from the five-star Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort with an unidentified male relative.
His paddleboard was later photographed floating in the water. The victim suffered horrific injuries to the right side of her body and attempts to resuscitate her with CPR were unsuccessful. She had only gotten married the day before the horror, WCVB reported.
Debra DeWeese, who spent part of Monday at the $1,500-a-night resort, said other beachgoers had told her they heard the woman scream as she was attacked.
Somber photos and videos shared later showed the victim’s covered body being carried back to the beach on a stretcher, before being loaded into an ambulance.
Mortuary services personnel transport the body of a tourist after what police described as a fatal shark attack in waters near the Sandals Royal Bahamas resort.
The woman’s paddleboard is seen floating in the water in front of the Sandals resort after Monday morning’s fatal shark attack.
Local police load the newlywed’s body into a van after Monday’s tragedy
Royal Bahamas Police Sergeant Desiree Ferguson told reporters: ‘Shortly after 11:15am, police were notified that a visitor from Boston, Massachusetts, USA, had been attacked by a shark.
‘According to our initial reports, the woman and a male relative were paddleboarding just out the back of a resort in west New Providence, about 3/4 mile from shore when she was bitten by the shark.
“A first responder on duty who saw what was happening went out in a rescue boat, recovered the victim, along with the male family member, and took them to safety. CPR was administered to the victim.
“However, he suffered serious injuries to the right side of his body, including the right hip region and also to his right upper limb.
“Emergency Medical Services responded to this scene, thoroughly evaluated the victim and stated that he showed no vital signs of life.”
He added that it took them a couple of hours to get the woman out, before a wheelchair was brought out to pick up the man believed to be her husband.
“I can’t imagine what the husband is going through,” DeWeese, who was on a day pass from a cruise ship, added in a Facebook post.
Emergency services are seen gathering on a pier outside the Sandals resort on Monday after the fatal shark attack.
Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort is a five-star resort, where rooms cost around $1,500 per night in high season.
DeWeese noted that “the staff and some guests are a little traumatized.”
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 pronounced dead at the scene despite CPR efforts.
It was not immediately clear what type of shark attacked the woman, although tiger and bull sharks are known to live off the coast of the Bahamas. A police superintendent did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Gavin Naylor, program director of the International Shark Attack File in Florida, said in an interview that several shark-related deaths have been 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 see sharks from a fishing boat or dive with them.
“So the sharks acclimatize and the animals are a little less cautious than they might otherwise be,” he said.
The victim, who was not identified, was attacked less than a mile from the western tip of New Providence Island, where the capital, Nassau, is located.
She was rowing with a man, believed to be her husband, who was not injured, according to police Sgt. Desiree Ferguson
Between 30 and 40 species of shark live around the Bahamas, although the Caribbean reef shark, bull shark, tiger shark and blacktip shark have the highest frequency of stings, Naylor said.
‘Usually it’s an accidental bite. They think it’s something else,’ she said. “Every once in a while, they point at people, and it’s very intentional.”
Fatal shark attacks are rare, with only an average of five to six reported a year worldwide, with the majority occurring in Australia, Naylor said.
Last year there were a total of 57 unprovoked bites worldwidemost of them in the US, according to the International Shark Attack File.
Debra DeWeese, a woman who visited the resort and later posted photos of the scene, told DailyMail.com that her fellow vacationers could hear the woman’s screams from the ground.
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 pronounced dead at the scene despite CPR efforts.
At least 33 confirmed unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in the Bahamas since 1580, and the island ranks ninth globally, according to the archive.
The Nassau Guardian newspaper reported that Bahamian authorities are still searching for a German woman who disappeared late last month after she was apparently attacked while diving.
Last year, a shark killed a passenger on a US cruise ship from Pennsylvania who was snorkeling in the northern Bahamas near Green Cay.
Most shark attacks in the Caribbean occur in the Bahamas, although a shark attack is rare. was reported in the French Caribbean territory of Saint Martin three years ago.