Woman killed in rare shark attack off Maine

A woman was killed in a rare shark attack off the coast of Maine on Monday, officials said.

The Maine Marine Patrol announced in a Facebook post that the woman, who was not identified in the post pending family notification, had been swimming near Bailey Island and White Sails Lane. 

An eyewitness told the patrol they saw the woman swimming when she was injured “in what appeared to be a shark attack.”

Kayakers that were nearby brought her to the shore, and emergency responders declared her dead at the scene. 

The Maine Marine Patrol advised swimmers and boaters “to use caution near Bailey Island and to avoid swimming near schooling fish or seals.”

The victim was reportedly swimming with another woman, who was not injured, Jeff Nichols, a spokesman for the patrol, said, according to The Portland Press Herald. A county dispatcher told the newspaper the Cumberland County Communications Center received a call at 3:29 p.m.

James Sulikowski, a professor at Arizona State University who researches sharks in New England, told the Press Herald that only one other unprovoked shark attack has been recorded in Maine. 

“Shark interactions with humans are very rare in Maine,” he said. “My guess is that the person was mistaken as a food item.”