Two American tourists were bitten by a shark in the Bahamas and needed to be airlifted for their injuries, police said.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force said police in Bimini, a westernmost district of the Bahamas known for beaches and fishing, are investigating after two American women were victims of an alleged shark attack on Feb. 7 around 6:30 p.m.
According to the police force, the women, who are both from the U.S., sustained injuries while swimming in the waters at Bimini Bay. They both initially received treatment at a local clinic before being airlifted to a hospital in New Providence, Bahamas for further medical attention, police said.
One of the women’s injuries was deemed “serious,” the police force said.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force did not immediately respond to questions from USA TODAY Monday.
May 3, 2015; Nassau, Bahamas; General view of sharks at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort.
Bahamas have had 34 unprovoked shark attacks since 1580
The Bahamas have had 34 unprovoked shark attacks dating back to 1580, according to the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File. This makes the Bahamas the ninth-highest of all the tracked countries, with the U.S. (1640), Australia (706) and the Republic of South Africa (262) in the top three, the data tracker shows.
Americans been bitten by sharks two other times in the Bahamas since 2023. In December 2023, a 44-year-old woman from Boston was killed in a shark attack while paddle boarding with a family member.
“CPR was administered to the victim; however, she suffered serious injuries to the right side of her body, including the right hip region and also her right upper limb,” former Royal Bahamas Police Sgt. Desiree Ferguson told USA TODAY about the attack at the time.
Then in January 2024, a 10-year-old boy from Maryland was hospitalized after being bitten on his right leg while participating in a shark tank expedition at a Bahamian resort.
Marlin Wakeman, of Stuart, was bitten by Carribean reef sharks after he slipped and fell into the water in the Bahamas. Media gathered press at St. Mary’s Medical Center to hear his story on May 9, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Florida native Marlin Wakeman spoke to the Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY NETWORK, about surviving a shark attack that occurred on April 26 in the Bahamas at Flying Fish Marina on Long Island. He recalled working on a marina charter boat when he accidentally fell into a “shark den” and was subsequently attacked by two of the sharp-toothed creatures.
“I was like, hey man, I don’t really wanna die right now, this ain’t it,” Wakeman recalled.
Wakeman managed to survive the attack when the boat’s captain came and pulled him away from the attacking sharks, he said. One of the shark’s bites narrowly missed a femoral artery in the 24-year-old’s leg, which could have caused him to bleed out and die.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shark attack in Bahamas injures 2 American women, police say
