Marine Life Teen diver bitten by shark, loses leg in Belize

[Knockneed Man]

We’re very good friends with this girl and her family. Very sad, but also very grateful she’s alive. It sounds like everyone on the boat and rescue did a great job. Just a tragic event.

 

[BLee88]

Sending prayers her way. I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for her and her family but am super proud of her for fighting and surviving this life-changing ordeal.

We’re very good friends with this girl and her family. Very sad, but also very grateful she’s alive. It sounds like everyone on the boat and rescue did a great job. Just a tragic event.

Would appreciate, if given an opportunity, you'd relay well-wishes to her from me and, I'm sure, the whole SB family.

 

[johndiver999]

“On a family vacation to Belize, Annabelle was scuba diving with a tour group and her family. After she was finished scuba diving and was on the boat, she jumped back into the water for a swim.”

Was she doing a "Shark dive" with the group? If so then this would be considered a provoked attack. If she was simply scuba diving, then the attack would probably be considered otherwise.

 

[tridacna]

Was she doing a "Shark dive" with the group? If so then this would be considered a provoked attack. If she was simply scuba diving, then the attack would probably be considered otherwise.

You know as much as I do.

 

[Ukmc]

She was not “simply” scuba diving. This is an another case of “done with diving but jumped back into water” and got bitten on the surface. As much as we would like to learn from these unfortunate accidents, It is hard to learn from the limited information provided. I guess, the point, I will carry out - pee at the safety stop and get out of the water once the dive is finished. I am definitely very sad for the girl, her life has been changed forever.

 

[Ukmc]

Looking at the ISAF data, there were less than 5% of unprovoked shark attack accidents associated with SCUBA diving. A good portion (vast majority) of attacks happened on the surface.

 

[morecowbells]

Grateful that the crew handled this correctly and that the poor girl is stable. (DISCLAIMER!) I am not a shark or marine biology expert, but I tend to think this was caused by a bull or tiger shark versus a reef shark.

 

[CT-Rich]

When I was diving Turneffe Atoll in late 2021, one of the DMs had a Hawaiian sling for killing lion fish on every dive. We did not see a lot of sharks, but when one showed up on the last couple of dives, they stuffed the dead lion fish into the reef and abandoned them for the sharks to find on their own.

It's very unfortunate the girl was bitten.

 

[NYC scuba]

I agree that is unusual. The gofundme says she jumped back in the water for a swim after the shark dive, so I wonder if the boat was feeding the sharks.

Donate to Support Annabelle's Recovery Journey, organized by Aja Jewell

My name is Aja Jewell, mom of two high school students. That is not the important inf… Aja Jewell needs your support for Support Annabelle's Recovery Journey

gofund.me

No, the boat was not feeding the sharks. It was the Belize Scuba Pro Center on San Pedro Island (at the Marriott). Staff on the boat reported afterwards that feedings are not uncommon on tours with other (smaller) folks.
The heroes on this trip were two first responders who happened to be guests on the trip.
Lesson learned: when diving, be self-reliant. Do NOT assume that your tour center will be prepared for anything.

 

[NYC scuba]

The news article linked in post #1 says she was diving with "the Belize Dive Pro company near Halfmoon Caye in the Gulf of Honduras." The Belize Dive Pro listed online is on Ambergris Caye 55 miles from Half Moon Caye so it's difficult to say.

Half Moon Caye on Lighthouse Atoll is about 55-60 mi. from San Pedro and Ambergris Caye. It's done as a day trip from Ambergris Caye regularly. The helicopter to Belize City is about 50 mi. - Half Moon Caye is very remote.

Incident occurred at a dive spot returning from Blue Hole. Helicopter was from a Coast Guard station about 30 minutes from the incident. Amazingly, Belize Coast Guard is a military operation; no medical staff were there to help.