sharks

Friends and family of 44-year-old Lauren Erickson Van Wart who was killed in the Bahamas in a shark attack on Monday, are in utter shock after learning of her death.

“She always seemed very nice, always waved to us, said ‘hello.’ [She was] very neighborly,” Beth Stack Emerson said of her neighbor.

Van Wart lived in the Lowell neighborhood for a decade and Stack Emerson would often see Van Wart walking the dog and waving as she passed by.

Last week was the last time Stack Emerson saw her in their Boston neighborhood.

“[It was a] trip of a lifetime. It’s heartbreaking, it really is.

“Shocking. These poor people, they probably looked forward to this vacation for months.” Stack Emerson lamented to CBS News.

Van Wart was a newlywed, having just married on Sunday. She was reportedly with her husband when the shocking incident occurred, while paddle boarding three-quarters of a mile off the shore of the Sandals resort beach, where she was a guest at Sandals Royal Bahamian.

Rescued by a lifeguard, Van Wart was severely bitten by a shark and sustained serious injuries to her thigh region and arm, dying shortly afterward.

Her new husband was not injured during the ordeal.

Van Wart worked as a math editor at Curriculum Associates for nine years. CEO of the institution, Rob Waldron said he and his staff are inconsolable.

“Our team is heartbroken and grieving the loss of a dear and trusted colleague and friend. Lauren was a beloved member of our math editorial team, and she infused her deep dedication to students and educators into every material she touched. Her commitment to excellence and outstanding work was driven by a higher purpose, focused on improving learning outcomes for all. Our Curriculum Associates community is mourning this tragedy and extends our deepest love and support to Lauren’s wonderful husband and all of her family.” 

The type of shark in the attack has not yet been identified.

Though shark attacks are rare, the Bahamas has the highest number of attacks in the Caribbean region.

Following the shocking death of an American tourist in a fatal shark attack The Bahamas on Monday, experts contends that incidents like this are rare. However, the country has the highest number of shark attacks in the Caribbean region.

In the Bahamas, there have only been 33 confirmed unprovoked attacks since 1580, according to Gavin Naylor, the program director of the International Shark Attack File, a database which tracks such incidents.

The fatal death of newlywed American tourist Lauren Erickson Van Wart on Monday shined a spotlight on attacks in the Bahamas. The 44-year-old woman from Boston, Massachusettes was paddle boarding a mile off from the western end of New Providence when a shark attacked her, biting and seriously injuring her lower right hip and right arm.

She died in the water.

The type of shark in the attack has not yet been identified.

Van Warts’ death is particularly alarming since the country has seen a spate in shark attacks, in recent times. In September 2022, Caroline DiPlacido, 57, from Pennsylvania, was killed near Rose Island while snorkelling with her children on a week-long cruise.

In August 2022, eight-year-old Finley Downer of Great Britain was attacked by nurse sharks but lived to tell the tale. He was in a lagoon at Compass Cay when the shark bit his leg and underwent a three-hour operation.

And in June 2019, Jordan Lindsey 21, was killed by a group of sharks while on vacation in waters near Rose Island.

Why do sharks attack?

Following Van Wart’s death, shark experts have echoed that these incidents are rare, arguing that in most cases, it is a mistaken identity.

Nick Whitney, a senior scientist at the New Englan Aquarium said, “Humans just happen to be unfortunate enough to be swimming in the water in a place where the shark was feeding on something else and the shark accidentally bites the person or investigates the person and uses their teeth to do that investigation.”

Sharks are known by researchers to bite people when they are confused or curious, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. For instance, if a shark sees someone splashing in the water, it may try to investigate, leading to an accidental attack.

“If people were targeted by sharks, we’d see 1,000 bites a day. We don’t,” Naylor, program director of the International Shark Attack File in Florida stated.

“In fact, humans and sharks do their best to avoid one another.”

Naylor said there is a strong correlation between shark attacks and the number of people and sharks in the water at the same time. He said that, while this may be an obvious point, it reiterates that sharks are not intentionally going after humans.

Why does it seem like there are so many shark attacks in the Bahamas?

Some experts say that because the Bahamas has a large tourist population, with lots of people in the water at a given time, and lots of visitors who view the sharks from fishing boats, or often dive with them, the sharks adjust and become less cautious with humans than they once were.

Between 30 to 40 shark species live around the Bahamas, although the Caribbean reef shark, the bull shark, the tiger shark and the black tip shark have the highest bite frequency, Naylor said.

“Usually, it’s an accidental bite. They think it’s something else,” he said. “Once in a while, they’ll actually single out people, and it’s very intentional.”

During the incident involving Erickson Van Wart, it is not known how many people were in the water at that given time and whether or not the shark mistook the paddle board for something else.

How often do sharks attack?

Only 5 to 6 incidents are reported each year with most attacks happening in Australia. In 2022, fifty-seven (57) cases were reported, with the majority in the USA.

The Bahamas ranks 9th worldwide, in shark attacks, marking the highest rate in the Caribbean.

Featured Photo credit: Reuters/Dante Carrer

Seventy-three-year-old Heidi Ernst, an American scuba diver whose leg was amputated when she was bitten by a shark in Grand Bahama last week, is defending the Grand Bahama Scuba Dive Center after it was hit with hate mails and negative reviews.

“They are not only the best dive shop but also saved my life,” she retorted.

Ernest said of the criticisms levelled against the scuba dive company since the attack, “They do not deserve this and it really pisses me off…It is uncalled for and so hurtful to people, my friends to be under attack.”

Ernst was climbing a ladder after finishing her dive when a shark grabbed her by the leg.

“I didn’t even see him approach me. He came from below, and it was just like a truck hit me. It was just like a scene out of a horror movie,” she told ABC7NY.

Ernst, an experienced scuba diver, then struck the shark to get it to open its jaw and praised her friend for his quick thinking in saving her life.

She was stabilized at the Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport and then taken by air ambulance to Jackson Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, FL. The extent of the wound and the infection required Ernest’s left leg amputation.

“She [the doctor] reconnected the nerves to muscles which promotes a good outcome with less pain and things like neuromas. And then she closed it up. Post-surgery is very painful and they had difficulty controlling my pain for almost two days,” she said.

Friends are seeking to raise $30,000 to assist with her medical expenses not covered by insurance, travel expenses to get her back home, travel expenses to get her to and from therapy appointments when she has returned home and other modifications needed in her home for physical assistance.

Ernst’s horror details circulated the international media and may have spurred criticisms at the dive company. “It was harmless consent on my part and now friends are being attacked. Please if you hear anyone badmouthing them, stop it in its tracks.”

Ernst said she will continue diving and has been looking for fins suited for amputees.

Since search and rescue efforts failed to locate Cameron Robbins, the American high school graduate who reportedly jumped into Bahamian waters last week while on vacation, theories have swirled this week that the teen was possibly killed by a shark.

Sharks are common sightings in Bahamian waters though attacks are infrequent. And the waters near Anthol Island are reported to be ‘infested’ with the marine predators.

The Black Beard’s Revenge party boat in which Robbins was a passenger, was in the area of Anthol Island, near Paradise Island, when the 18-year-old reportedly lept overboard on a dare, in just trunks and without a floating device.

In a newly released video, passengers panicked as he swam in the dark ocean, and some are urging him to hold onto a floating device in the water, but he swims in another direction. This puzzled many viewers and some point to an object or shape in the water that resembles a shark. This, many say, could be a reasonable cause for Robbins’ decision to swim away from the boat when he was being encouraged to swim closer.

Commodore of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force Raymond King, whose organization led the search and rescue mission alongside US Coast Guards before efforts were suspended, said, “I can tell you that area where an individual (Cameron Robbins) reportedly jumped over, it’s an area that is really shark-infested as well. It is so unfortunate but I don’t want the family to lose hope.”

tHEKing presumes Robbins is dead, further stating that “the probability of survival decreases significantly particularly if a person did not have on a life vest and particularly if a person is perceived to be intoxicated.”

In 2017, American citizen Tiffany Johnson was snorkelling in waters near Anthol Island and lost her arm when a tiger shark attacked. And, in 2022, Caroline DiPlacido was on vacation and snorkelling near Green Cay which is 2 miles west of Anthol Island, when she was killed by a bull shark.

It has been a week since Robbins went missing without a trace and his family who helped search, has since returned to Baton Rouge, Louisianna.