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A tourist trying to photograph a shark in shallow waters in a beach in the Turkish islands and caïcos this month was bitten by it and stole the island to receive medical care, the local government said.
The tourist was treated in a hospital before leaving the island, providial, a sandy magnet of 38 mile squares for dives and sun seekers who are surrounded by turquoise waters.
The shark was about six feet long, according to the Turkish government and caicos, but its species was not clear.
The tourist had “tried to engage with the animal” in order to take pictures of them before being bitten on February 7, the Ministry of the Environment and Coastal Resources of the Turks and Caïcos said in a press release.
His identity was not immediately released and officials did not describe the extent of his injuries.
The beach was closed but reopened on February 9 after the shark turned out to have moved into deeper waters, according to the environment department. Turks and Caicos, an archipelago, is a British territory and one of the most fanciful tourist destinations in the Caribbean.
Shark bites are extremely rare and are generally accidents, according to experts. But sharks can cause serious injuries when they confuse humans with prey.
Around the world, there were 88 confirmed or potential shark bites recorded last year by the international shark attack dossier at the University of Florida, an organization that Follow the shark data.
Twenty-four were provoked, which means that a human had initiated contact with the shark, according to the organization. Four people died of shark bites. One of the stings recorded last year was the Turks and Caicos; It was not fatal.
The Director of the file, Gavin Naylor, said on Saturday that he was too early to say that the bite of this month in the Turks and Caïcos was caused or not caused.
But Chris Stefanou, a fisherman and ecologist from New York who labels sharks, said that the photographs of the sharks may include risks and that the shark could have confused a phone for a fish.
“Sharks, or any predatory animal in the ocean, can confuse it as a bait fish,” said Stefanou, referring to small brilliant fish that attract sharks to shore. “The shark has not only seen a human:” Ooh, I’m hungry, I want to go take a bite. It did not happen.
The episode was not the only shark bite reported in the Caribbean on February 7. Two Americans were injured in what seemed to be a shark meeting in Bimini’s bay in northern Bahamas, According to the Royal Bahamas police forces.
Mr. Naylor said two bites in one day in the region were unusual and made him “sit a little”.
But it was not clear if there was a trend. The number of shades of uninsured sharks confirmed at 47 last year, down from 69 the previous year, according to the international shark attack dossier.
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