Shark tourism can have bits in Puerto Rico
San Juan, Puerto Rico – An American tourist who swam at night in a bioluminescent bay is recovering from a suspected Shark Bite, which occurred in a small island near Puerto Rico, said a doctor on Wednesday.
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The woman underwent surgery for severed tendons around her ankle and is expected to recover, said Dr. Edwin Miranda, a spokesman for the Rio Piedras Medical Center, where the victim was treated.
He said doctors believe the bite can be caused by a shark, but they are waiting for analysis from a marine biologist Thursday.
Authorities did not release the woman's name. The newspaper El Nuevo Dia described her as a 27-year-old woman from Idaho, who traveled alone, according to an acquaintance of her in Puerto Rico.
Marine experts said they suspect a shark was to blame is based on descriptions of the extent of the damage, even if they had not seen pictures of the bite.
"It's an opportunity," said Ruperto Chaparro, a biologist and director of Sea Grant conservation programs in Puerto Rico. "For me, the shark bit her and said:" This is not what I want to eat "and left."
The woman was bitten late Tuesday while swimming in Mosquito Bay in Vieques, an island popular with tourists just east of Puerto Rico. The bay attracts hundreds of visitors with its luminous water filled with microscopic organisms that light up when something disturbs them.
Bay murky waters also serve as a nursery for many fish species, including sharks, said Francisco Pagan, a marine biologist at the University of Puerto Rico.
Pagan said that he suspected a young shark was to blame when it was surprised or confused woman's legs with a food source. Tiger, nurse and reef sharks are the most common species in the area, but attacks are very rare, he said.
"I would not worry," Pagan said. "This is not normal."
Puerto Rico has had only six recorded shark attacks, two of them fatal, with the last death reported in 1924, according to statistics from the Florida Museum of Natural History.
The woman was apparently on a guided kayak trip on the bay and jumped into the water, as tourists do, said Mark Martin Bras, head of Community affairs and marine life exhibits for the Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust.
He said that people have seen small sharks in the Gulf, including the black tip and hammerhead sharks, but no attacks or bites have been reported.
"Some people here are in a state of disbelief," he said. "Nobody panic, but of course there is concern that there is a tourism-based island."
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Submited at Thursday, August 18th, 2011 at 10:00 am on News by dave
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