A tourist wanted to take a photo of a shark, but lost her arms (5 photos)

A Canadian woman was vacationing on the island of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos when she fell victim to a shark. The predator attacked the 55-year-old woman just a few meters from the shore, cutting off both her arms.





Police and conservation officials confirmed the attack, which occurred in the waters off Thompson's Cove Beach in central Providenciales at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Friday, February 7.

According to local authorities, the victim was wading in shallow water, trying to "make contact" with the fish and take a photo of it. The predator was about 2 m long, according to unconfirmed reports, it was a bull shark. The woman's husband rushed to her aid, he tried to drive the shark away.



Vacationers photographed the man-eating shark in shallow water.

"I was there for 40 minutes, but the shark did not swim away," one of the eyewitnesses told a local news site after the bloody attack.





The victim was rushed to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre for treatment. One arm was amputated at the wrist and the other at mid-forearm.

Incidents like this are rare in the Turks and Caicos Islands. There has only been one unprovoked attack in the past year that did not result in a fatality.



In 2023, a shark bit off an American woman's leg off the coast of the archipelago. The 22-year-old girl from Connecticut was celebrating her graduation from Yale University on the island. The limb could not be saved, as it took six hours for an ambulance helicopter to get to the site.



There are many species of sharks around the islands, including grey reef sharks, nurse sharks, tiger sharks, bull sharks and hammerheads.

According to the International Shark Attack Registry, there were 47 unprovoked attacks worldwide in 2024, 22 fewer than the previous year and well below the 10-year average of 70.

Turks and Caicos is officially a British Overseas Territory. The islands have had a local government and parliament since 1976.