Visitor Bitten by Shark of Ambergris Caye

A reef shark reportedly bit a tourist during a dive tour off the coast of Ambergris Caye on Sunday.  Reports from San Pedro are that the visitor was with Chuck and Robinson Tours diving in an area known as Tackle Box.  The shark is reported to have bitten his hand, ripping off flesh from his left palm and two of his fingers.  He received stitches and fortunately did not sustain any bone damage. While the company has declined to be interviewed, they have described the incident as unfortunate and unexpected and insisted that they were not chumming the area to attract sharks at the time.  MAR Alliance, a conservation N.G.O., has commented on the incident saying, (Quote) “although there was apparently no provisioning conducted at the time of the dive and the incident, we have strongly suggested for a decade now, that operators refrain from chumming at forereef dive sites nor spear lionfish in areas of regular shark visitation. This will minimize expectations and unwanted habituation from sharks and the possibility of unwanted interactions with divers.” (Unquote) The victim is expected to make a full recovery.