A tragic incident occurred near the Canary Islands where a German tourist lost her life in a rare shark attack while swimming alongside her catamaran off the northwest coast of the popular travel destination. The 30-year-old woman was sailing on a British-flagged catamaran that had departed from the island of Gran Canaria on September 14. The shark attack resulted in one of her legs being bitten off, and despite emergency personnel flying 320 miles to evacuate her, she succumbed to her injuries in the helicopter.
Following the attack, Spain's rescue service, the Salvamento Marítimo, launched an investigation into the incident. The Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File (ISAF) reported that there have been only six confirmed shark-related incidents in Spain's history.
Shark attacks are indeed rare, with the ISAF recording a total of 69 confirmed unprovoked attacks worldwide in 2023, resulting in 14 fatalities. The report highlighted that Australia experiences a disproportionate number of shark attacks, accounting for 22% of the total attacks globally.
