Woman attacked and bitten in the leg by a shark in New Caledonia

A tiger shark off the Philippines.

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A tiger shark attacked a young woman off Bourail in western New Caledonia and bit her in the leg, firefighters said on Monday.

The victim and one of his colleagues, members of a team of videographers and scientists on an expedition on sperm whales, had moved away about twenty meters from their catamaran to explore the reefs with fins and snorkel.

A four-meter tiger shark

The boat anchored about 1 kilometer from Île Verte, a reserve nicknamed "the emerald of the Bourail lagoon" (160 kilometers north of Nouméa) because of the beauty of its seabed.

"The shark first circled around them, then it came up from the bottom and took on one of the swimmers, who managed to struggle," said a firefighter from Bourail, specifying that it was a tiger shark over 4 meters.

Bitten in the right thigh, the young scientist however managed with her friend to swim to the catamaran where the members of the crew provided her with first aid.

The shark allegedly inflicted three lacerations of about three inches.

“She was then transferred to Noumea for medical intervention.

His days are not in danger, ”said members of this expedition, intended to make a documentary, in a statement.

In 2009 and 2016, two fatal shark attacks took place in this area.

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