Tourist has both hands bitten off by shark during photography attempt on tropical island

A woman has reportedly had both hands bitten off by a shark in the shallow waters off a Blue Hills beach on Provinciales, the main island in the Turks and Caicos archipelago, on Friday 7.

The Canadian tourist in her 50s had tried to engage with the wild animal “in an attempt to take photographs,” the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands Department of Environment & Coastal Resources (DECR) said in a statement.

The woman was taken to Cheshire Hall Medical Centre and then airlifted off the island for further treatment, it said.

The shark was estimated to be about 1.8m, but the species is yet to be confirmed.

A number of beaches were closed, but reopened two days later “after it was determined that the shark had moved to deeper water,” DECR said.

One of the Canadian woman’s hands was amputated at the wrist, the other required an amputation from the mid-section of her forearm, according to the National Post.

“A man claiming to be the woman’s relative said she was able to walk back to shore after the attack. She was bitten in the thigh, he added, but did not lose her leg,” it reports.

It reports that the woman’s husband also entered the water in an attempt to protect his wife and drive away the shark.

The department warned tourists to be aware of their surroundings and “respect marine life”.

“Swim in designated areas, avoid murky waters, never swim alone, and do not attempt to feed marine wildlife under any circumstances,” it said.

That same day, northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, in The Bahamas, two American tourists also survived a shark attack that required one of the women to have major leg surgery, after they jumped into the water from a boat.

It comes just months after an advisory was issued from the nearby Caymen Islands, on the other side of Cuba, noting that sharks are beginning to associate humans in the area with food.

The Cayman Islands Department of Environment said in a statement in November that its researchers had recognised behaviours in sharks engaging with divers, that are consistent with the animals having been regularly fed by divers, despite that being an illegal act in Cayman waters.