Two people enjoying the beaches of Zihuatanejo, in the state of Guerrero, in Mexico, They were fatally surprised by an “aquatic animal”, leaving a Canadian man dead and a woman injured. who was also in the place.
The man identified as Joseph Bynens, 76, died due to the extent of the injuries to one of his legs.after the bite that the animal gave him.
Paramedics and civil protection personnel treated the victim in Playa Quieta, in front of the Ixtapa hotel zone hotel, however, the man bledso nothing could be done to save his life.
While, the wounded womanwhose identity the authorities did not reveal, was transferred to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment, according to the latest medical reports. is stable.
Local authorities continue investigations to determine if The person responsible for the attack was a shark, as the first versions say, or a crocodilenative animal of the area.
Given this fatal event, the authorities closed access to these beaches and federal and state forces carried out an operation with Civil Protection personnel and the Secretary of the Navy in search of the shark or the species that carried out the attack.
On the other hand, Jorge Sánchez Alec, municipal president, reported that, Marine biologists have expressed a high probability that the attack was by a crocodile.
However, he clarified that a bacteriological analysis is being carried out to determine what happened.
Meanwhile, They urge visitors and the general population to take extreme precautions until we clarify what happened.
Although this is the first attack of this species recorded in the region after the climate changes generated by Hurricane Otis in the Mexican Pacific, andIt is the second event that occurred recently on the beaches of Mexico.
Shark attacks woman in Jalisco
Recently, at the beginning of December, the terrible news was announced where A young Mexican woman died from a shark attack while swimming with her 5-year-old son. in the waters of Melaque Bay, belonging to the beaches of Jalisco.
According to the Civil Protection and Firefighters report of the municipality, María Fernanda, marine biologist, He prevented the shark from attacking his son by putting him safe in an inflatable; However, she was attacked and submerged in the sea for several minutes.
The young woman was taken out of the water by lifeguards and bathers, although without vital signs, according to the director of Civil Protection of Cihuatlán, Rafael Araiza.
According to Bernabé Aguilar Palomino, biologist and professor at the University Center of the South Coast of the University of Guadalajara, “the attack was fortuitous, but it occurred precisely due to the similar conditions of the Fish Aggregating Devices on the beach. It is like a fish attractant and, evidently, due to the knowledge it possesses, it also attracted the shark.”
Crocodiles, probable culprits
The reason why there is suspicion that the bite was caused by a reptile, It is because near Quieta Beach, where the attack occurred, there is a crocodile, which, according to the mayor, has been reinforced in terms of security.
However, recently,The presence of a crocodile alerted tourists on El Palma beach in Ixtapawithout any incident occurring.
Although, according to records, the last shark attack occurred on the beaches of Costa Grande: in 2019, where an American tourist was the victim of an attack in Troncones, near Zihuatanejo.
That area of the Costa Grande of Guerrero is the one that attracts the greatest number of foreign tourists in the cold season, where they take refuge for its warmth.
Keep reading:
- A woman died attacked by a shark in Mexico after saving her son
- Boston woman dies in shark attack while rowing in the Bahamas
- VIDEO: Great white shark surprises tourists by appearing on the coast in Northern California.