A teenager swimming alone off the coast of Jamaica this week was brutally attacked by a shark, decapitating him and severing his arm. Shark attacks are extremely rare in Jamaica and this was only the fourth such killing in nearly 300 years.
Jahmari Reid, 16, went missing while on a solo spearfishing trip near the popular tourist town of Montego Bay. While recovering the boy's decapitated body and severed arm on Tuesday morning, divers spotted a tiger shark they believe may have been responsible for the attack. The divers tried to kill the animal, but it managed to evade them.
“All the fishermen went out and they were diving to get it up and they saw the big shark. They shot at it but they couldn't catch it,” said Christopher Reynolds, one of the fishermen on the scene. Jamaica ObserverReynolds said he hopes the shark can be found and killed so its severed head can be salvaged.
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The teenager's grieving father, Michael Reid, said he tried to stop his son's spearfishing hobby. “It's something we argue about, we fight about. He's not doing it for a worthy cause, he's not doing it for his needs, he's not doing it for anything else,” said Reid, the taxi driver. “He's still the same. Can you believe it?”
“I can't believe you went sailing alone yesterday and this is the result,” Reid lamented. “It's sad to know. I feel terrible.”
Shark attacks are rare in Jamaica, so Falmouth Fishermen's Welfare Association president Fritz Christie said the shark may have followed a cruise ship into Falmouth waters.
“When one of the ships came in it looked like a large shark was following the ship and when the ship left it looked like the shark hadn't left the area,” he explained. “And the young guy came out and was attacked by the shark. It bit his head off.”
Christie warned spearfishers should be extremely careful in the waters after a cruise ship entered Falmouth Harbour. “What we need to do is be careful diving when the ships come in. The shark eats his head off, one of his hands off. It's crazy, man,” he added.
Authorities in Falmouth are currently investigating the incident. According to the International Shark Attack File, only three unprovoked shark attacks have been reported in Jamaica since 1749.