A German tourist has died after a shark bit off her leg in the Atlantic south of the Canary Islands, the first death caused by a shark attack in the waters around the islands in history.
Spanish authorities dispatched an air force helicopter to rescue the woman, but she died while on board as it travelled to one of the archipelago’s hospitals.
The 30-year-old woman, who has not been named, was on a cruise on a British-registered pleasure boat when the attack happened shortly before 4pm on Monday.
It has not been reported how it took place, but shark-related incidents off the coast of north-west Africa and near the Canary Islands are extremely rare.
The crew of the Dalliance Chichester catamaran reported the emergency to Spain’s coastguard at 3.55pm on Monday.
At the time, the vessel was situated about 300 miles south of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and just over 100 miles from Dakhla, Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony over which Morocco claims to have sovereignty.
Spain’s coastguard asked Morocco if its rescue services were available to offer assistance, but the Moroccan coastguard said it did not have resources in the area.
The Spanish coastguard also issued an alert to all shipping in the area near the Dalliance Chichester, with one vessel responding by taking medical supplies to the catamaran.
Authorities in the Canary Islands decided to send a Spanish air force search and rescue helicopter, with a military plane supporting the mission.
The helicopter came from Gran Canaria and took the injured woman on board at around 8.05pm. The woman, who had one of her legs severed by the shark, reportedly suffered a fatal cardiac arrest during the rescue flight.
According to online maritime traffic monitoring navigators, the Dalliance Chichester had left Las Palmas de Gran Canaria’s port last Saturday and headed south.
The International Shark Attack File, compiled by the Florida Museum of Natural History, said Monday’s attack was the first confirmed incident involving a shark in waters near the Canary Islands that had resulted in death.
The file mentions six confirmed incidents in the area since records began in the 16th century, with a seventh considered probable.
No shark incident had previously been documented in the area where Monday’s attack took place. The closest, apart from those in the Canary Islands, was reported in the African archipelago of Cape Verde.
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