By: Staff Writer
February 11, 2025
Two American women, Rileigh Decker, 20, and Summer Layman, 24, are recovering after they say they were attacked by a shark while swimming off the island of Bimini in The Bahamas last week Friday
They sustained serious injuries and were initially treated at a local clinic before being airlifted to New Providence for further medical care.
One of the victims was listed in serious condition, but police said that both women had been discharged and had returned to the US.
Based on initial reports, the two women were swimming in the waters at Bimini Bay, a luxury resort area, at the time of the alleged attack.
“We’re just very grateful to still be here – with all of our limbs,” Decker said.
Decker said she felt something nudge her leg when they were in the water.
“I felt my leg get tugged down, and I immediately knew I was bit by a shark,” she said.
Unprovoked shark attacks are rare in the Bahamas, with just 34 recorded since 1580, according to the Florida Museum’s International Shark Attack File.
This ranks The Bahamas ninth among all tracked countries, with the US leading at 1,640 cases, followed by Australia with 706 and South Africa with 262, the data shows.
However, last week’s incident is at least the third reported shark attack involving American tourists in the Bahamas since 2023.
In January 2024, a 10-year-old boy from Maryland was bitten while participating in a shark tank expedition at a resort on Paradise Island, the police said. In December 2023, a 44-year-old woman from Boston was fatally attacked by a shark while paddleboarding near a beach resort.
With attacks increasing, researchers and local fishermen are trying to piece together the cause. Some have blamed “chumming,” for sharks in shallow water as a possible cause. But there is no evidence of chumming in this recent case.
Others have said that due to the ban on shark hunting has increased the populatiion of sharks and by extension is increasing the chance of swimmers to come into contact with sharks looking for food
Another reported attack in the Bahamas came in December 2024, when Lauren Erickson Van Wart, 44, of Massachusetts, was killed while paddleboarding. The Royal Bahamas Police Force said the woman was paddleboarding near the back of the Sandals Resort when she was attacked.