On Tuesday, August 6, 2024, an incident occurred in which a 15-year-old American tourist, was attacked by a shark while participating in a dive tour at Half Moon Caye in the Lighthouse Reef Atoll. This unfortunate event occurred at approximately 11:30AM when the minor re-entered the sea after a dive.
According to reports from authorities, after being alerted of the incident, the boat’s crew and passengers quickly rescued the distressed teenager from the water and made their way to the Coast Guard’s Forward Operating Base (FOB) at Calabash Caye. There, Coast Guard personnel and representatives from the Turneffe Atoll Sustainability Association (TASA) provided first aid treatment to the injured girl and support to the remaining guests. Her mother, and a dive guide were later transported to Belize Medical Associates in Belize City for further medical care.
Honorable Andre Perez, Belize Rural South Area Representative and Minister of Blue Economy and Disaster Risk Management, stated in a media interview, “It was a regrettable circumstance. I want to point out that yesterday’s attack may be the first of its kind that we have documented. Though we are disturbed by it, let me emphasize that this is incredibly uncommon. We are saddened about the news, but I want to highlight that this is exceedingly rare, and I do not think this is the time to say we will not go swimming again. There must be some other reason for what has occurred and more investigation to do.”
Perez believes everyone managed the situation well except for certain media houses, as images of the victim’s severed leg were shared via social media, displaying the victim’s right leg severely bitten while strapped to a trauma board. Perez commented, “The media has a responsibility to consider the feelings of the affected family. We should not add to their pain by sharing graphic images thoughtlessly. I strongly condemn the insensitive sharing of such images. In the past 30 years, we have never experienced an accident like this. There is no need to worry or be scared; this was a very isolated case, and we are safe.”
No official reports identify the specific species of shark that may have been responsible for the attack. The area surrounding Half Moon Caye is a popular tourist diving and snorkeling site. Authorities maintain that this was an isolated incident and assure that proper research will be conducted to prevent such incidents from occurring again.
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