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A teenage tourist is currently being treated in hospital after she was attacked by a shark at a popular dive site yesterday. 15-year-old Sofia Carlson was travelling with Belize Professional Diving when she jumped into the water near Lighthouse Reef Atoll around 11:30am. However, a few minutes later the shark attacked her and Carlson was bitten on the leg. Fortunately, she was rescued and transported to the Belize Coast Guard Base on Calabash Island. She was then airlifted by an Astrum helicopter to the Belize Medical Society where she was treated. This morning, Andre Perez, Minister of the Blue Economy and Representative of the Southern Rural Region of Belize, spoke out about the unfortunate encounter and condemned multiple media blogs for publishing photos of the teenage girl’s injuries.
Andre Perez, Minister of Blue Economy: “It’s an unfortunate situation. I would say this is probably the first time we have documented an attack of this nature that happened yesterday. I think one of the most important things I want to share right now is that we’re told the victim is fine, alive and making it. We don’t know the extent of the damage yet, but it’s certainly an unfortunate situation. We are very sad about it, but I want to stress that this is a very rare situation and I don’t think it’s the time to say ‘we’re not going to go swimming again’. There must be other reasons why this happened. But it’s too early to say. I know all the authorities have handled it very well, as far as the BTB is concerned, all the support they provided, how the people on the boat reacted, how they responded, where they went to help. Everything was done. I think the only part that I have to call out and condemn in the strongest possible terms is the way some members of the media handled it. I’m not blaming everyone, but I think the media’s responsibility is very important because we’re talking about a family that is hurting right now and we don’t want to cause them any more harm. I think it’s a disservice and I stand here to condemn in the strongest possible terms the sharing of all these graphic images.”
The incident has caused concern among people, with many beginning to question what exactly could have caused such an attack. Today, Kirah Forman-Castillo, national coordinator for the Mar Alliance, appeared on the morning show to talk about important research on sharks. While she couldn’t speak to specific incidents, she noted that shark attacks are extremely rare around the world.
Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, commander of the Belize Coast Guard, also expressed concern about the tragic incident. He spoke of the response of his officers and guides in helping Carlson get the medical attention she needed.
Rear Admiral Elton Bennett (BCG Commander) said: “We do hope that she recovers. This is a very unfortunate situation. I want to believe that the response has been very good. I think the follow-up by the tour company was very good and got her to safety in a reasonable amount of time. I can’t speak to what was going on in the vicinity when the shark attack occurred and I don’t know what her situation was when she was in the water so I won’t speculate and I won’t comment on that. All I can say is that this is the first time I’ve ever been in a situation like this and we wanted to make sure we were able to get in touch with these tour companies, especially in remote areas where the Coast Guard can help. I think the response mechanism that we had yesterday with the tour companies and Astrum was pretty good.”
The girl and her family had recently arrived in Belize for a vacation.
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