A mum has been killed in a shocking shark attack while out snorkeling with her family on a cruise ship holiday.
The 58-year-old mum was understood to have been with her husband, daughter and son when the savage attack by a bull shark took place at a popular snorkeling spot.
The woman was a US cruise ship passenger who was snorkeling in waters near the Bahamas yesterday, authorities say.
Her identity has not been made public yet but it's been widely reported she was from Pennsylvania, the Mail reports.
The terrifying incident happened at a popular snorkeling spot near Green Cay in the northern Bahama.
The family were passengers on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas and had been visiting New Providence for the day when they booked an excursion.
She was with a group of five to seven other passengers when she was attacked just before 2pm, according to Eyewitness News.
The tour company took the family to Green Cay, which is about a half mile northwest of Rose Island - the same place where a 21-year-old American woman was killed in a shark attack in 2019.
"The family was reportedly snorkeling in waters and that area is known for visitors to snorkel," police said.
"It is further reported that family members observed a bull shark attacking the female."
Police say family members and tour company employees rescued the victim and the beach was closed until further notice.
She was subsequently brought to mainland New Providence where she was declared dead having sustained injuries to her upper body.
The incident comes just a month after an eight-year-old British schoolboy survived an attack by three sharks in the Bahamas last month.
Finley Downer, 8, was in the Bahamas with his family last week on an excursion to the protected harbor Compass Cay when the horror attack happened.
Downer's father said his son was left with "huge chunks of flesh hanging off both legs" - and compared the incident to the movie Jaws.
He puts the fact young Finley survived down to the nurse who happened to be among the group tourists who helped stem the blood.
His dad was then able to pay for a private plane to take the boy to hospital for life saving surgery.
Shark attacks on humans are generally rare, however.
In 2021, there were 73 confirmed unprovoked attacks globally, of which nine were fatal, above the annual global average of five unprovoked fatalities, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File.
Most shark attacks recorded in the Caribbean have happened in the Bahamas.
There were two reported incidents in 2019 with one of them proving fatal.
College student Jordan Lindsey, 21, was attacked by three sharks while on a family holiday in the Bahamas.
She was snorkeling near Rose Island when she was encircled by the sharks.
The Environmental Communications student suffered devastating injuries in the attack.
Her right arm was torn off and she was bitten on her left arm, both legs and buttocks.
Investigators believed she was attacked by three sharks, and her parents said they saw the sharks approaching and screamed to warn her but she didn't hear them in time.
At the time, her devastated father Michael said in a statement to NBC: "Her name was Jordan Lindsey...we already miss her so much. She was so caring. She loved all animals. It's ironic she would die getting attacked by a shark."
