A model has been bitten by a shark in the Bahamas.
Adventure blogger Mareen was traveling through the islands March 1, when she made a stop at Compass Cay.
The private island is just south of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park and is known for an abundance of nurse sharks. Workers at the local marina have been feeding the sharks, many of which have names, for years.
Mareen was able to swim with the sharks and took the opportunity to float on her back as she was circled by the docile sharks.
Shortly after the photo was taken, a shark bit her right hand.
“I cannot tell you the second of shock I felt when I saw this shark opening his mouth grabbing my hand.” she wrote on her blog Miss Everywhere
The social media star from Germany was quite shocked when the shark bit her.
“People always tell you when a shark attacks you should stay calm. Let me tell you in reality when it happens there is nothing like staying calm you completely freak out” she wrote.
While nurse sharks have small teeth, they have very strong jaws and Mareen’s hand was left bloodied from the incident.
However, she doesn’t blame the shark and took the experience with a good heart.
“My hand is okay again and has a scar now in shark teeth shape that will forever remind me of that beautiful day in the Exumas. It’s an amazing experience to swim with them and quite an adrenalin boost but consider even though they are usually calm they are still wild animal” she said.
Nurse sharks are normally docile sharks and tend only to bite when provoked. In 2016 a woman was bitten by a nurse shark in Florida. The unidentified 23-year-old was bitten on the arm and the shark refused to let go.
According to a witness members of the girls group were holding the shark by the tail.
Another incident occurred in the Bahamas March 26, 2016. Henry Kreckman was playing in the water when a man in his 20’s picked up a nurse shark which bit Kreckman’s chest.
There have been a total of 45* shark attack bites in 2017, 5 of which were fatal*; 19 were reported in the US, with 14 occurring in Florida and one in Hawaii. Eight occurred in Australia, one of which was fatal and one with no injury. Three unconfirmed worldwide and not included in the total count.
All locations have been marked on the 2017 Shark Attack Bites Tracking Map.
*Two may be scavenge
