A BRITISH tourist attacked by a bull shark while swimming off Tobago is tonight in intensive care after suffering injuries to his stomach.
The man, 64, had ventured into the water near the Caribbean Island’s Starfish Hotel and was attacked about 10 metres from the shore.
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Witnesses said they believed the shark, reportedly a bull shark, was up to 10 feet long and two feet wide.
The victim reportedly suffered a severed left thigh and severed left hand to elbow, as well as a laceration to his stomach.
He was receiving critical care at the Scarborough General Hospital last night, the Mirror reports.
The attack, which occurred on Friday at Turtle Beach along Great Courland Bay, has led the government of Trinidad & Tobago to close seven beaches and a marine park.
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Witnesses said the victim was only in waist-deep water when he was attacked, and that people nearby tried to chase off the predator.
Stephanie Wright, from West Sussex, said: “We saw some people on the beach, and I originally thought the gentleman had had a cardiac arrest, and I thought they were helping him.
“And then I saw someone running down with a towel, and then I saw a dorsal fin come out of the water and thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s a shark.’
“As it turned, I saw the tail come out as well. As it swam off.”
The government said that shark sightings were reported in the Grafton area and in the Buccoo Reef Marine Park.
Officials added that the closure of beaches and a marine park would allow the Coast Guard and Department of Fisheries to investigate the attack and possibly “neutralise” the shark threat.
There were 69 unprovoked shark attacks and 22 provoked bites worldwide last year, along with 14 fatalities, according to the Florida-based International Shark Attack File.
