A shark attacks and kills a man in New Caledonia

A man was found lifeless on a watersports board off Noumea after he was the victim of a shark attack, according to the first elements of the investigation.

He’s a yacht man who alerted rescue services at sea on Saturday at the end of the day after spotting a 57-year-old inanimate on a “stand paddle” (paddle board) off the coast of Nouvel, North Peninsula. – West Noumea. Authorities blocked access to the coastal area in the accident area until Monday, local newspaper Les Nouvelles calédoniennes reported. The accident happened on one of the islands of New Caledonia on Saturday night. According to the reconstruction of the newspaper, the shark allegedly tore the leg of the man. Les Nouvelles calédoniennes reports that the attack victim died of cardiac arrest. The municipality of Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, intervened after the accident, making the beach and the adjacent stretch of sea banned. The authorities issued a decree banning swimming and water sports in the coastal area up to 300 meters around the island until Monday. According to research from the University of Florida in 2020, there were 57 shark attacks against humans. Most occurred in the United States (33) and Australia (18) while this attack occurred in New Caledonia after the death of a 57-year-old man in late February near a tourist island in a bay in the capital of Caledonia. He had been bitten in the leg by a tiger shark, which was over four meters in length. Between February 24 and March 2, the disappearance of a swimmer and then a yacht man in Noumea, in hitherto unexplained circumstances, may have been caused by attacks from sharks, which have settled in waters near the city, according to experts. In January, a girl died at sea in New Zealand. According to police, a shark attack caused the death. Other beaches were not closed, but the municipality called on bathers to “exercise extreme caution”. According to marine biologists, attacks by sharks in these waters are extremely rare. There are very few things that can induce a shark to attack, but mostly it’s about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, says Giovanni D’Agatta, Head of the Law Office. They are inquisitive animals by nature, so they either approach something to see what it is, or they bite it with the intention of eating it, or are provoked and bitten in defense.

CS “Law Office”