A shark attacked a foreign tourist last Sunday near a crowded beach in New Caledonia, an island in the western Pacific Ocean. The French AFP drew attention to the tragic incident concerning the local prosecutor.
According to detailed information, the 59-year-old Australian man was swimming next to a pontoon about 150 meters from the beach in the capital Noumea when he was attacked several times by a shark. After some time, he was dragged onto a boat by two tourists swimming nearby and brought to the beach. The rescue service provided first aid to the victim, but the traveler died on the spot due to serious injury to his leg and both hands and heavy blood loss.
That day, the beach of Chateau Royal south of Noumea was crowded as usual, some saw with their own eyes what was happening but were unable to help the man. Those who were in the water ran to the shore in panic. Then the authorities decided to evacuate vacationers from the coast.
For safety reasons, Noumea Mayor Sonia Lagarde ordered the closure of most beaches in the area and the capture of tiger and bull sharks in nearby waters. According to the police, drones were used to track marine predators, and two individuals were found with the help of the technology. As the prosecutor explained, the case of the attack is being investigated, and the reasons why the rescuers did not notice the predator, which swam into the water area under their control, are currently being investigated.
It was reported that this is far from the first tragic incident in this area popular among Australian tourists. So, last month, a 49-year-old swimmer was seriously injured by a shark near Chateau-Royal Beach. A few days later, a shark also attacked a surfer, but the man was fortunately unharmed.
Reference: New Caledonia is located south of Vanuatu and 1,200 km east of Australia, and is an administrative-territorial entity of France. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, which has been keeping records of shark attacks worldwide since 1958, the site ranks 13th worldwide for the total number of shark attacks.