Bahamian law enforcement officials are investigating whether a man, whose body had been retrieved from the sea with injuries to the left hand and ear, might have been the victim of a shark attack. Photo: howtodoitright.com

Chief Superintendent Chrislyn Skippings said police received information that an unidentified man was floating in the waters off Saunders Beach on Monday. 

“Officers responded and on arrival discovered the male partially submerged in the waters in a swim trunk and bareback. The male was retrieved by the officers along with our community partners who were here on the beach,” Skippings said. 

“Once he was brought ashore, it was observed that the male, who appears to be in his early 20s, had significant injuries to his left arm and he also had injuries to his ear. 

“We believe the injuries are consistent with that of a shark attack. However, we are in the preliminary stages of our investigations. Once the coroner has completed due diligence in this matter we will be able to come back to you and speak definitively as to whether it was a shark attack, or exactly what may have gone on in this particular incident,” she said. 

Police estimate the man’s body was in the water for four to eight hours. 

There have been isolated shark attacks in the waters around this country. Last year, 58-year-old American tourist Caroline Diplacido was killed in a shark attack near Green Cay. During that incident, her family reported that they saw a bull shark attacking her. 

In June, a 73-year-old woman from Marshall Town, Iowa, was admitted to hospital after suffering a severe shark bite to her lower calf while she stood on the stern ladder of a vessel sailing on the waters south of Taino Beach, Grand Bahama. The woman’s leg had to be amputated.